The  Fisherman  of  Galilee 


THE  FISHERMAN 
OF  GALILEE 

A  Devotional  Study  of  the  Apostle  Peter 


By 

harmon  a.  Baldwin 

Author  of  “  The  Indwelling  Christ 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh' 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh :  75  Princes  Street 


PREFACE 


THE  following  pages  have  been  inspired  by 
an  earnest  desire  to  be  helpful  to  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  God  in  every  place,  by  pointing 
out  to  them  some  of  the  gracious  truths  and  sur¬ 
passing  beauties  of  the  word  of  God;  and  with  the 
hope  that  we  may  thus  encourage  men  to  drink 
more  deeply  and  with  true  devotion  of  that  living 
stream  which  shall  eventually  cover  the  earth  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea . 


Cleveland,  Ohio. 


H.  A.  B. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


i 


https://archive.org/details/fishermanofgalilOObald 


Contents 


I.  The  Elect  of  God  .  ...  9 

I  Peter  1:1,  2 

II.  Begotten  of  God . 16 

I  Peter  1:3 

III.  The  Inheritance  of  the  Saints  .  25 

I  Peter  1:4 

IV.  Kept  by  the  Power  of  God  .  .  33 

I  Peter  1:5 

V.  Salvation  by  Faith  ....  39 

I  Peter  1:5 

VI.  Manifold  Temptations'  ...  47 
I  Peter  1:6 

VII.  The  Trial  of  Our  Faith  ...  54 
I  Peter  1:7 

VIII.  Joy  Unspeakable . 60 

I  Peter  1:8,  9 

IX.  The  Mysteries  of  Redemption  .  67 

I  Peter  1:10-12 

X.  Keeping  the  Heart  .  .  .  .  74 

I  Peter  1:13 

XI.  Obedience  and  the  Former  Lusts  .  81 

I  Peter  1:14 


8 


CONTENTS 


XII. 

Called  Unto  Holiness 

I  Peter  1:15 

•  •  • 

88 

XIII. 

Called  Unto  Holiness 

I  Peter  1:15, 16 

•  •  • 

93 

XVI. 

The  Coming  Judgment 

1  Peter  1:17 

r 

•  •  • 

98 

XV. 

Redemption  . 

I  Peter  1:18 

•  •  • 

104 

XVI. 

The  Precious  Blood  . 

I  Peter  1:19 

•V. 

•  •  • 

109 

XVII. 

The  Precious  Blood  . 

I  Peter  1  :19 

•  •  • 

116 

XVIII. 

The  Spotless  Lamb 

1  Peter  1:19-21 

•  •  • 

123 

XIX. 

Obedience  and  Its  Results 

I  Peter  1:22 

131 

XX. 

The  New  Birth  . 

1  Peter  1:23 

•  •  • 

137 

XXI. 

The  New  Birth  . 

I  Peter  1:23 

•  •  • 

143 

XXII. 

The  New  Birth  . 

I  Peter  1:23 

•  •  • 

148 

XXIII. 

Vanity  of  Human  Life  When 
Separated  from  God 

I  Peter  1:24 

151 

XXIV. 

Enduring  Quality  of  the  Word  of 
God  ••••••• 

I  Peter  1:25 

158 

I 


THE  ELECT  OF  GOD 

“Peter,  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  strangers  scat¬ 
tered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  and 
Bithynia,  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the 
Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience 
and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ .  Grace  unto  you , 
and  peace,  be  multiplied  — I  Peter  1:1,  2. 

PETER  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.” — This 
is  Peter  the  poor,  humble,  unlearned  fisher¬ 
man,  hut  he  had  seen  Jesus.  He  had  seen 
Him  by  the  seaside,  he  had  been  with  Him  in  the 
ship  on  the  storm-tossed  sea,  and  had  marveled  at 
His  power ;  he  had  seen  Him  walking  on  the  waves 
of  Galilee,  and  when  about  to  sink  in  his  attempt 
to  do  the  same  had  felt  the  power  of  that  almighty 
hand  holding  him  up;  he  had  walked  with  Jesus 
along  the  dusty  highways  of  Judea  and  wondered 
when,  at  the  gracious  words  which  fell  from  the 
lips  of  the  Son  of  man,  lepers  were  healed,  the' 
blind  saw,  the  dumb  spake,  the  deaf  heard,  the 
lame  walked,  the  dead  were  raised,  devils  fled,  and 
the  poor  heard  the  gospel ;  he  had  been  with  Him  in 
the  mount  and  beheld  His  face  shining  like  the  sun 
and  His  raiment  like  light ;  he  had  beheld  Moses  and 
Elias  talking  with  his  Lord,  and  when  he  entered 
the  cloud  he  had  heard  the  voice  saying,  “  This  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear 
ye  Him.”  Then  Peter,  with  the  others,  had  fallen 

on  his  face  “  sore  afraid,”  but  when  he  looked  again 

9 


10  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


lie  saw  no  man  “  Save  Jesus  only;”  he  had  reclined 
with  Jesus  at  the  passover  feast  in  the  upper  room, 
he  had  heard  His  parting  instructions  and  reluc¬ 
tantly  submitted  to  have  his  Lord  and  Master  wash 
his  feet ;  he  had  been  with  Him  in  the  garden  and 
had  slept  for  sorrow  of  heart;  he  had  followed 
Jesus  afar  off  as  He  was  led  to  the  judgment  hall, 
and  had  denied  Him  only  when  He  whom  he  wor¬ 
shipped  seemed  to  have  lost  His  power;  he  would 
have  fought  in  the  garden,  but  had  been  rebuked 
for  his  rashness ;  yes,  he  was  with  the  five  hundred 
up  at  Bethany  and  watched  the  Christ  of  his  love 
as  He  ascended  and  was  received  out  of  sight.  For 
upwards  of  three  years  Peter  had  been  constantly 
with  his  Lord,  sharing  with  Him  the  hardships  of 
His  humility ;  he  had  seen  the  vision,  he  had  caught 
the  spirit,  he  had  been  transformed  by  the  visioif 
from  a  humble  fisherman  to  an  “  apostle  of  Jesus 
Christ;”  he  had  been  clothed  with  the  power  of  the 
Spirit,  and  now  he  delighted  to  tell  the  glad  news 
and  “  strengthen  the  brethren.” 

Did  you  ever  notice  the  sturdy  strength,  both  of 
faith  and  character,  that  resides  in  every  line  of 
Peter’s  writings?  He  was  a  man  of  action.  He 
could  not  sit  down  and  ecstatically  gaze  into  the 
heavens — he  must  be  up  and  doing.  J ust  one  time, 
when  he  was  on  the  mountain,  he  thought  he  would 
like  to  stay  and  gaze,  but  he  was  not  much  more 
than  down  again  when  his  hustling  disposition 
manifested  itself.  He  must  do  something. 


THE  ELECT  OF  GOD 


11 


To  be  practical,  did  you  ever  catcb  the  vision, 
did  you  ever  receive  the  Spirit,  did  you  ever  see 
Jesus?  You  did  not  walk  with  Cleopas  to  Em- 
maus  as  Jesus  talked  with  him,  feel  your  heart  burn 
within  you;  but  did  Jesus  go  with  you  in  the  test? 
Did  you  see  Him  amid  the  lashing  waves  ?  or,  with 
Peter,  did  you  lose  your  vision  when  Jesus  was 
reviled  and  buffeted  and  seemed  to  become  like  an¬ 
other  man,  and  deny  Him  there?  Did  you  ever 
ascend  the  mountain  with  Him  and  behold  His 
glory  ?  If  you  see  Him  not  thus,  you  have  no  part 
in  Him. 

“  To  the  strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus, 
Oalatiaj  Cappadocia,  Asia  and  Bithynia  What 
matter  is  it  where  these  countries  were  located.  If 
Peter  wrote  only  to  them  he  did  not  write  to  me. 
But  there  is  one  word  that  takes  me  in.  From  any 
standpoint  the  matter  is  viewed,  I  was  and  am  a 
stranger.  I  was  a  stranger  to  the  covenant  of 
grace,  I  am  now  a  “  stranger  and  a  pilgrim  ”  in 
this  world,  I  am  seeking  a  city  which  is  out  of 
sight,  and  it  is  the  hope  that  I  may  sometime  reach 
that  city  which  causes  me  so  persistently  to  abstain 
“  from  fleshly  lusts  that  war  against  the  soul.” 

A  stranger  can  easily  be  noticed  in  the  town. 
People  gaze  after  him  wondering  who  he  can  be, 
and  he  stares  around  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prove 
that  the  surroundings  are  all  new.  And  this  is 
much  more  the  case  if  the  stranger  is  a  foreigner 
and  does  not  understand  the  language  or  customs 


12  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


of  the  residents,  or  dress  according  to  the  prevail¬ 
ing  fashions  of  the  place.  If  you  are  a  Christian 
you  are  a  stranger  and  a  foreigner  in  this  world, 
you  do  not  understand  its  sinful  language  nor  fel¬ 
lowship  its  unholy  customs,  and  the  people  of  the 
world  think  it  is  strange  that  you  run  not  to  the 
same  excess  of  riot  as  they  and  speak  evil  of  you. 

“  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God.” 
If  a  man  is  elected  it  is  because  of  some  real  or 
supposed  merit  in  him  that  makes  him  fit  for  the 
position.  He  cannot  take  his  seat  unless  he  is 
elected  according  to  the  law  or  prevailing  prac¬ 
tice.  They  that  run  in  a  race,  run  all,  hut  no 
man  is  crowned  except  he  strive  lawfully.  Thus, 
God  has  His  laws  according  to  which  we  must  be 
governed  or  all  of  our  running  will  be  in  vain. 
Jesus  spoke  of  certain  people  who  should  cast  out 
devils,  prophesy  in  His  name,  and  in  His  name 
do  many  wonderful  works,  but  who  should  never 
be  elected  according  to  God’s  law,  for,  when  they 
come  to  the  gates  of  heaven  and  knock,  Jesus  will 
command  them  to  depart,  declaring  that  He  has 
never  known  them.  But  we  need  not  be  ignorant 
as  to  whether  we  are  lawfully  elected.  Peter  lays 
down  one  simple  rule  and  names  two  results  that 
will  inevitably  follow  a  proper  election:  The  rule 
— “  elect  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit.” 
The  two  results  (1)  “  unto  obedience,”  (2)  “and 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ.” 

“  Elect  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit.” 


THE  ELECT  OF  GOD 


13 


Sanctification  is  that  gracious  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  which  the  consecrated,  believing  soul  is 
cleansed  from  all  moral  defilement,  and  exalted  to 
holiness  of  heart  and  life.  This  then  is  the  means 
by  which  we  are  elected.  God  made  Aaron  and 
his  sons  priests,  the  people  elected  George  Washing¬ 
ton  president,  bishops  are  elected  by  those  who  law¬ 
fully  hold  the  proper  franchise;  if  we  are  ever 
elected  at  all  it  will  be  through  sanctification.  God 
cannot  tolerate  the  unclean.  Judas,  the  son  of  per¬ 
dition,  must  die;  Ishmael,  the  son  of  the  bond- 
woman,  must  be  cast  out.  No  country  would 
knowingly  delegate  authority  or  franchise  to  a 
traitor.  Sin  is  a  traitor,  and  God  who  knows  all 
things  demands  its  execution  in  order  to  a  proper 
election.  Now  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  declare 
for  God  and  strongly  and  joyously  bear  the  bound¬ 
ing  heart  into  God  and  set  it  triumphant  on  the 
throne  of  power. 

But  notice  that  the  possibility  of  this  condition 
of  affairs  is  brought  about  only  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  He  alone  can  cast  out  the  traitors,  He  alone 
can  bring  the  soul,  so  rebellious  by  nature,  into 
loving  submission  to  the  divine  will.  He  cleanses 
the  rebellion  from  the  heart,  He  changes  the  enemy 
to  a  friend;  the  sinner  to  a  saint;  He  fits  the 
temple  for  His  own  indwelling,  and  henceforth 
reigns  alone. 

Now  for  the  proof  of  our  election : 

(1)  “  Unto  obedience  ”  “  Obedience  is  better 


14  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 
rams.”  Men  are  sanctified  that  they  may  fully 
possess  the  power  to  obey.  A  sanctification  that 
does  not  bear  this  fruit  or  bring  about  this  result 
is  not  of  God.  “  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  oh 
God,”  was  the  prophetic  utterance  of  the  Psalmist : 
“  Nevertheless,  not  my  will  but  Thine  be  done,”  was 
the  cry  of  the  suffering  Christ  in  Gethsemane;  “I 
will  follow  Thee  whithersoever  Thou  goest,”  is  the 
declaration  of  the  sanctified  soul.  A  partial  obe¬ 
dience  is  a  forced  obedience,  and  a  forced  obedi¬ 
ence  is  not  acceptable  to  God ;  a  full  obedience  from 
a  heart  filled  with  love  is  the  only  form  of  service 
the  Lord  can  smile  upon.  To  be  sure  I  will  make 
mistakes,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  in  my 
most  complete  submission  I  will  often  miss  the 
divine  intent,  but  God  is  gracious  and  will  fill  out 
my  unintentional  deficiencies  with  mercy,  and  let 
me  go  free. 

(2)  “ Sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ”  There 
are  two  sides  to  this  sanctification.  Man’s  obedi¬ 
ence,  and  God’s  sprinkling  of  the  blood.  Some 
stop  with  man’s  part  and  are  never  elected;  but 
some  go  on  until  their  panting  souls  touch  the 
blood,  or,  rather,  are  touched  by  the  blood,  and  they 
are  thus  made  every  whit  whole.  It  is  not  by 
works  of  righteousness  that  we  ascend  to  God,  our 
best  works  without  the  blood  are  filthy  rags;  but 
we  reach  God  by  obedience  and  a  living  faith  on 
our  part,  which,  through  some  mysterious  power, 


THE  ELECT  OF  GOD 


15 


produce  or  bring  about  an  application  of  tbe  blood 
of  sprinkling  which  speaketh  better  things  than  the 
blood  of  Abel.  When  the  destroying  angel  saw  the 
blood  on  the  doorpost  of  an  Israelitish  home,  even 
in  the  midst  of  doomed  Egypt,  he  passed  over  that 
house. 

“  Grace  unto  you ,  and  peace,  be  multiplied An 
apostle’s  idea  of  blessing.  Not  an  increase  of 
wealth,  or  honour,  or  power ;  not  prestige  or  position, 
but  an  increase  of  grace  and  peace.  Not  by  the 
slow  process  of  addition  but  by  the  rapid  develop¬ 
ment  of  multiplication.  What  a  great  heart  Peter 
had!  Such  men  as  he,  generally  have  a  large 
vision.  He  could  embrace  an  opportunity  and  fin¬ 
ish  the  job  while  the  other  disciples  were  getting 
ready.  There  was  much  of  the  intuitive,  as  men 
would  say,  but  of  the  divine,  as  God  would  say, 
in  his  make-up.  Jesus  commended  him  for  his 
quick  grasp  of  divine  truth  that  revealed  things  un¬ 
seen,  and  said,  “Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Barjona; 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but 
my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.” 

Now  he  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  things  in  store 
for  us,  and  with  a  fisherman’s  simplicity  prays  that 
we  may  receive  them.  “  Grace  ”  and  “  peace,” 
favor  and  blessing.  What  more  could  we  ask  ? 
With  these  we  become  children  of  grace  and  “  re¬ 
joice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.” 


II 

BEGOTTEN  OF  GOD 


“  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead.” — I  Peteb  1:3. 

PETER,  the  fisherman  of  Galilee,  had  great 
reason  to  be  thankful.  If  the  forgiveness 
of  small  debts  should  cause  gratitude, 
surely  he  who  with  an  oath  declared  he  did  not 
know  Jesus,  if  forgiven,  should  he  doubly  grateful. 
Oh,  that  look  of  melting  tenderness  that  Jesus  gave 
Peter !  The  already  crushed  and  sorrowful  heart 
of  the  erring  disciple  was  so  completely  broken  that 
he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.  With  God  there  is 
forgiveness.  To  err — to  sin — is  human,  to  forgive 
is  divine.  Then,  sorrowing  one,  look  unto  Jesus 
and  be  saved. 

A  clean  heart  is  a  thankful  heart.  It  is  impos¬ 
sible  for  one  who  has  been  cleansed  to  truly  view 
the  mysteries  of  redemption  without  being  aston¬ 
ished  at  the  wonders  and  graces  which  are  hidden 
there.  Paul  cried  in  ecstasy,  “  Oh,  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of 
God!  How  unsearchable  are  His  judgments,  and 

His  ways  past  finding  out !  ” 

16 


BEGOTTEN  OF  GOD 


17 


Having  given  ns  a  glimpse  of  the  possibilities  of 
grace,  and  the  method  of  their  attainment,  Peter 
breaks  out  with  the  exclamation,  “  Blessed  he  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.”  Why 
should  he  bless  God?  Why  should  I  bless  God? 
He  leads  my  soul  into  deep  waters,  He  hides  His 
face  when  it  seems  to  me  that  I  need  Him  most. 
Then  why  should  I  adore  Him?  All  such  reason¬ 
ings  are  carnal.  I  will  never  be  fully  blest  until 
I  can  look  through  the  clouds  and  darkness  and 
tempest  and  see  the  hand  of  God  working  for  me 
with  more  tender  care,  with  greater  ability,  and 
with  deeper  anxiety  for  my  success  than  I,  myself, 
could  manifest  had  I  the  power  to  run  things  my 
own  way.  We  think  we  must  be  always  in  the 
light;  we  are  not  happy  unless  our  emotions  are 
stirred;  we  are  as  covetous  after  and  as  attached 
to  the  breasts  of  divine  consolation  as  an  unweaned 
child;  without  it  we  become  fretful  and  peevish, 
and  are  inclined  to  blame  God  for  withholding  our 
rightful  bounty.  God  wants  us  to  be  men  in  wis¬ 
dom  and  look  more  to  the  Giver  of  consolation 
than  to  the  consolation  He  gives.  If  we  possess 
the  Giver  we  have  the  gift,  but  in  spiritual  mat¬ 
ters  the  gift  will  breed  worms  like  the  manna  in 
the  wilderness  if  we  lose  the  Giver.  A’Kempis 
says,  “  If  it  be  Thy  will  that  I  should  be  in  dark¬ 
ness,  be  Thou  blessed;  and  if  it  be  Thy  will  that 
I  should  be  in  light,  be  Thou  again  blessed.  If 
Thou  vouchsafe  to  comfort  me,  be  Thou  blessed; 


18  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


and  if  Thou  wilt  have  me  afflicted,  be  Thou  blessed 
also.” 

I  do  not  desire  to  argue  the  question  of  the  eter¬ 
nal  sonship  of  Christ,  enough  for  me  that  the  F ather 
calls  Him  His  beloved  Son.  As  the  heavens  are 
higher  than  the  earth  that  far  do  the  wisdom  and 
ways  of  God  excel  the  wisdom  and  ways  of  man. 
God  spake  light  into  existence,  but  I  know  not  how ; 
God  made  the  world  from  naught,  but  I  know  not 
tow;  God,  by  His  almighty  power,  keeps  the  uni¬ 
verse  running  in  perfect  harmony,  such  power  is 
too  wonderful  for  me;  God  made  bare  His  right 
arm  and  brought  salvation  to  a  sin-wrecked  world, 
from  chaos  He  brought  forth  order,  from  unclean¬ 
ness  purity;  I  stand  in  awe  before  this  miracle  of 
eternity  and  cannot  comprehend.  If  I  must  con¬ 
fess  my  dullness  of  vision  concerning  these  mat¬ 
ters,  I  must  also  concerning  that  other  great  mys¬ 
tery,  the  incarnation  of  Christ  and  His  eternal  son- 
ship.  I  bow  before  Him,  confess  my  lack  of  com¬ 
prehension,  believe  and  worship. 

“  Who  according  to  His  abundant  mercy  hath 
begotten  us  again.”  God,  the  Father,  is  the  great 
source  of  spiritual  good.  We  are  too  much  in¬ 
clined  to  look  on  Him  as  angry  with  us  and  so  re¬ 
vengeful  because  of  our  sins  that  He  will  not  be 
approached;  and  to  think  of  Jesus  as  the  personifi¬ 
cation  of  mercy  coming  to  turn  aside  the  al¬ 
mighty’s  thunderbolts  that  we  should  not  die.  Such 
a  view  makes  the  Father  a  being  of  terrors,  it  robs 


BEGOTTEN  OF  GOD 


19 


Him  of  His  great  attribute  of  love  and  clothes  Him 
with  vengeance.  John  says  that  God  (the  Father) 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  Son  for  our 
redemption.  This  salvation  is  a  conception  of  the 
Father  of  lights  the  Giver  of  every  good  and  per¬ 
fect  gift.  He  manifested  His  love  by  giving  the 
greatest  gift  eternity  possessed,  He  wounded  His 
own  Father-heart  that  He  might  heal  us  eternally. 
There  was  only  one  way  to  save  the  lost,  and  God’s 
love  found  that  way.  He  sacrificed  His  Son  be¬ 
cause  He  must  be  sacrificed  or  we  must  die 
eternally. 

Mercy  is  an  attribute  of  God  which  is  brought 
into  existence  because  there  are  beings  who  are 
needy.  Until  weakness  was  manifested  in  the  fall 
of  beings  which  might  be  helped,  mercy  did  not 
exist.  We  do  not  know  where  mercy  was  bora,  but 
we  do  know  it  was  manifested  in  that  our  first  hour 
of  need,  when  God  said,  “  The  seed  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpent’s  head.”  To  Moses,  God 
proclaimed  Himself  merciful  and  gracious,  slow  to 
anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy.  Oh,  how  needy  we 
are!  Born  in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity,  going 
astray  as  soon  as  we  are  born,  not  only  aliens  by 
birth,  but  sinners  by  choice,  for  God  declares  that 
all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God. 
Sin  like  a  millstone  would  drag  us  to  hell,  but  the 
mercy  of  God,  manifested  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  came  to  our  rescue. 


20  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


Mercy  found  us  in  the  “  slough  of  despond/’  and, 
lifting  us  up,  set  our  feet  on  the  Rock. 

“  Plunged  in  a  gulf  of  deep  despair. 

We  wretched  sinners  lay, 

Without  one  cheering  beam  of  hope, 

Or  spark  of  glimmering  day. 

“  With  pitying  eye  the  Prince  of  Peace 
Beheld  our  helpless  grief, 

He  saw,  and,  oh,  amazing  love; 

He  flew  to  our  relief. 

u  Down  from  the  shining  seats  above. 

With  joyful  haste  He  fled; 

Entered  the  grave  in  mortal  flesh, 

And  dwelt  among  the  dead.” 

Men  give  grudgingly  either  from  a  spirit  of 
stinginess  or  because  of  a  lack  of  means,  hut  God, 
out  of  a  storehouse  of  unlimited  possibilities,  gives 
abundantly.  The  measure  of  His  giving  is  not  cir¬ 
cumscribed  by  a  lack  of  willingness  or  by  a  lack 
of  wealth.  The  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills  belong 
to  Him,  the  earth  is  the  Lord’s  and  the  fullness 
thereof,  the  sea  and  they  that  dwell  therein;  every 
star  in  the  universe,  from  the  nearest  to  the  most 
remote,  claims  God  as  its  owner;  angels,  archan¬ 
gels,  cherubim  and  seraphim  delight  to  do  Him 
honour;  heaven  is  His,  He  paves  its  streets  with 
celestial  gold,  builds  its  walls  with  jasper,  its  gates 
with  pearls,  and  its  palaces  are  studded  with  gems 
more  costly  and  beautiful  than  anything  of  earth. 
If  we  need  help,  help  has  been  laid  on  one  that  is 
mighty;  if  we  need  wisdom,  He  gives  to  all  men 
liberally;  if  we  need  temporal  blessings,  He  has 


BEGOTTEN  OF  GOD 


21 


promised  to  supply  all  our  needs  according  to  His 
riches  in  glory ;  if  we  need  grace,  He  will  make  all 
grace  abound  toward  us.  Then  why  should  we 
want  ?  The  young  lions  do  lack  and  suffer  hunger, 
but  they  that  seek  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good 
thing.  “  My  mouth  shall  show  forth  Thy  right¬ 
eousness  and  Thy  salvation  all  the  day.” 

Of  "  His  abundant  mercy  He  hath  begotten  us 
again We  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins, 
we  were  children  of  the  devil,  but  by  His  divine 
power,  and  through  His  marvelous  mercy,  He  has 
resurrected  us  from  the  dead  and  made  us  children 
of  God.  Without  this  spiritual  resurrection  we  can 
never  see  God  in  peace.  Were  you  ever  thankful 
for  the  possibility  of  seeing  God  ?  Man  is  fearfully 
and  wonderfully  made.  Although  so  fallen  and  so 
defiled  he  still  has  powers  possessed  by  no  other 
earthly  being.  The  spirit  of  the  beast  goes  down¬ 
ward  into  the  earth,  but  the  spirit  of  man,  created 
to  live  forever,  may  drop  this  mortal  clay  and 
mount  to  heaven’s  highest  glories. 

About  six  or  seven  hundred  years  ago  there  was 
a  great  church  congress  in  the  city  of  Kostinitz. 
One  day  two  of  the  bishops  who  were  riding  in  the 
country  saw  in  the  distance  a  shepherd  weeping. 
Approaching  him  they  asked  the  cause  of  his  dis¬ 
tress.  The  man  pointed  to  an  ugly  toad  in  the 
grass,  and  said,  “  When  I  saw  that  toad  I  felt  so 
grateful  that  God  had  made  me  a  man  instead  of 
such  an  animal,  and  I  remembered  that  I  had  never 


22  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


thanked  Him  for  it,  and  I  weep  on  account  of  my 
ingratitude.”  How  strange  that  I,  an  immortal 
spirit,  created  for  the  enjoyments  and  felicities  of 
heaven,  should  be  satisfied  with  earthly  good ! 

Notice,  again,  that  this  new  birth  is  a  personal 
matter,  and  that  Peter  speaks  of  it  as  having  been 
actually  received.  “  God  has  begotten  us  again.” 
Some  are  inclined  to  place  all  the  blessings  beyond 
the  river,  others  would  leave  them  all  with  the 
apostles,  but  God  has  blessings  for  each  individual 
if  he  will  but  put  himself  in  the  proper  attitude  to 
receive  them. 

“  Hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope.” 
According  to  the  word  of  God,  John  the  Baptist 
lived  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  be  the  forerunner 
of  Jesus;  when  this  end  was  accomplished  he  died. 
God  told  Jeremiah  that  before  he  was  bom  He  had 
sanctified  him  and  ordained  him  a  prophet  unto 
the  nations.  'Cyrus  the  Great,  the  conqueror  of 
Babylon,  although  history  reveals  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  tyrant,  was  appointed 
by  God  to  fulfill  His  purposes.  One  hundred 
seventy-six  years  before  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled, 
God,  through  the  prophet  Isaiah,  called  him  by 
name  and  said,  “  Cyrus  is  my  shepherd,  and  shall 
perform  all  my  pleasure:  even  saying  to  Jerusalem, 
Thou  shalt  be  built ;  and  to  the  temple,  Thy  founda¬ 
tions  shall  be  laid.” 

The  apostle  gives  ns  to  understand  that  when 
we  are  begotten  again  this  birth  is  for  a  purpose. 


BEGOTTEN  OF  GOD 


23 


We  are  not  saved  to  waste  our  powers  in  idle 
dreaming,  we  are  not  saved  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
drinking  in,  even  here,  the  pleasures  of  the  Lord; 
we  are  not  saved  that  we  may  spend  our  time  ecstat¬ 
ically  gazing  into  the  heavens;  and,  again,  we  are 
not  saved  that  we  may  simply  escape  hell  and  gain 
a  home  in  heaven;  hut,  on  the  contrary,  we  are 
saved  not  only  for  our  own  benefit,  but  that  we  may 
also  be  a  blessing  to  others.  God  desires  that  we 
shall  live  so  holy  and  justly  and  unblamably  in 
this  present  evil  world  that  others  may  see  our  good 
works  and  glorify  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
Faber  says: 

“  Oh,  that  I  could  waste  my  life  for  others, 

With  no  ends  of  my  own; 

Oh,  that  I  could  pour  myself  into  my  brothers, 

And  live  for  them  alone.” 

The  apostle  declares  that  we  are  begotten  again 
“  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead.”  Hope  is  that  grace  which 
bears  up  the  soul,  giving  it  buoyancy  and  gladness 
amid  the  sorrows  and  disappointments  incident  to 
this  life.  Without  hope  men  must  fall  into  utter 
despair.  Hope  can  change  a  field  of  defeat  into  a 
field  of  opportunity. 

But  many  indulge  what  they  fondly  think  is 
hope  which  is  indeed  no  hope  or  at  best  a  dead  hope, 
but  the  hope  of  a  Christian  is  “  lively.”  False 
religion  worships  a  dead  Christ,  it  changes  the 
truth  of  God  into  a  lie;  but  our  Christ  has  risen 


24 


THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


again,  and  because  He  lives  we  live  also.  This 
new  life  is  made  possible  only  by  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  If  He  has  not  risen 
our  hope  is  vain.  But  that  He  has  risen,  every 
soul  that  has  passed  from  the  death  of  sin  unto  the 
life  of  righteousness  can  testify,  for  he  has  felt 
resurrection  power  coursing  through  his  soul,  lift¬ 
ing  him  from  the  things  of  earth  to  the  things  of 
God,  giving  him  an  assurance  which  is  big  with  im¬ 
mortality,  and  filling  him  with  a  strength  that  en¬ 
ables  him  to  go  forth  and  conquer  every  enemy. 
This  hope  is  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
steadfast,  and  enters  into  that  within  the  veil. 


Ill 


THE  INHERITANCE  OF  THE  SAINTS 

“  To  an  inheritance  incorruptible ,  and  undefiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you.” — I  Peter  1 : 4. 

WHEN  the  rich  young  man,  his  heart 
filled  with  anxiety  concerning  eternal 
things,  came  running  and  kneeled  be¬ 
fore  Jesus  with  the  question,  “  What  shall  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life  ?  ”  the  Lord’s  answer  puzzled 
the  disciples.  And  as  He  further  conversed  with 
them  after  the  young  man  had  departed  in  sorrow, 
telling  them  that  it  was  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man 
to  enter  heaven,  the  disciples  marveled.  Peter, 
who  perhaps  until  now  had  never  stopped  to  count 
the  cost  and  to  ponder  the  result  of  leaving  all  to 
follow  Jesus,  broke  out  with  the  statement  and  the 
question,  “  Behold,  we  have  forsaken  all,  and  fol¬ 
lowed  thee ;  What  shall  we  have  therefore  ?  ” 

What  minister  of  the  gospel,  who  has  recklessly 
ventured  all  on  the  Lord  and  in  the  Lord’s  work, 
has  never  run  into  this  same  question?  When  he 
has  felt  the  pangs  of  disease,  and  has  been  haunted 
with  the  nightmare  of  “  going  away  ”  to  leave  his 
wife  a  widow  and  his  children  orphans,  his  heart 

has  more  than  once  asked,  “  What  shall  I  have  ? 

25 


f 


26  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 

What  shall  I  get  for  all  this  sacrifice?  Who  will 
care  for  these  if  I  am  taken  away  ?  ” 

Jesus  did  not  rebuke  the  anxiety  of  Peter.  His 
was  a  legitimate  question.  He  was,  as  far  as  we 
know,  the  only  one  of  the  disciples  who  was  mar¬ 
ried,  and  he  would  naturally  be  the  one  who  would 
he  tempted  to  uneasiness  concerning  the  future. 
The  young  man  can  smile  at  the  other’s  cares;  the 
man  who  has  plenty  can  harshly  accuse  the  poor 
man;  but  Jesus  did  not  do  this,  He  gave  an  answer 
that  was  satisfactory  to  the  questioner. 

He  first  gave  them,  as  His  apostles,  the  promise 
of  eternal  blessings:  “  Ye  also  shall  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel;”  and  then  followed  with  that  wonderful 
promise  of  temporal  blessings  to  everyone  who 
should  forsake  all  for  His  sake,  saying,  u  And 
every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren, 
or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children, 
or  lands,  for  my  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundredfold, 
and  shall  inherit  eternal  life.” 

King’s  children  are  bom  to  be  princes  and  kings. 
The  throne  and  royal  honour  by  those  who  believe 
in  the  “  divine  rights  ”  of  kings,  are  acknowledged 
as  their  inalienable  possession.  He  who  would 
dethrone  them  and  take  their  place  is  called  a 
usurper.  The  children  of  rich  men  inherit  the 
goods  of  their  father;  and  he  who  would  deprive 
them  of  their  rightful  possessions  is  called  a  crim¬ 
inal.  Real  Christians,  those  who  are  begotten 


THE  INHERITANCE  OF  THE  SAINTS  27 


again,  those  who  are  horn  from  above,  are  heirs  to 
an  inheritance,  and  in  the  ownership  of  this  inher¬ 
itance  they  are  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ.  God 
gives  His  gifts  to  all  men;  He  causes  it  to  rain 
upon  the  unjust  as  well  as  upon  the  just;  but  the 
“  inheritance  ”  is  for  none  but  His  children.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  person  who  would  wilfully  attempt  to 
deprive  one  of  His  children  of  this  inheritance, 
God  says  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck  and  he  be  drowned  in 
the  depths  of  the  sea.  After  we  have  borne  the  bur¬ 
dens  of  life,  and,  in  Jesus’  strength  conquered  our 
last  enemy,  then  we  shall  receive  our  inheritance. 
We  can  have  only  an  earnest  here,  a  foretaste  that 
draws  us  on  with  great  desire  for  the  obtaining  of 
the  full  fruition. 

Four  things  are  said  of  this  inheritance.  It  is 
(1)  “incorruptible,”  (2)  “and  undefiled”  (3) 
“  and  that  fadeth  not  away,”  (4)  “  reserved  in 
heaven  for  you ” 

(1)  An  object  is  corruptible  which  may  decay 
or  perish  as,  the  human  body;  it  is  corrupt  when 
it  has  lost  its  original  soundness,  integrity  or  pur¬ 
ity,  as  corrupt  flesh,  corrupt  practises,  corrupt 
judges.  Corruption  is  decay,  decomposition,  or 
putrefaction.  These  terms  are  used  in  their  strict 
sense  concerning  matter  which  may  by  a  process  of 
decay  or  putrefaction  become  so  deteriorated  as  to 
lose  its  original  purity  and  uprightness,  and  thu9 
become  unfit  for  its  intended  use.  This  element 


28  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


is  not  some  foreign  substance  clinging  to  tbe  out¬ 
side,  but  is  caused  by  tbe  decay  and  decomposition 
of  tbe  essential  elements  of  tbe  thing  itself. 

Tbe  Christian’s  inheritance  is  incorruptible.  It 
will  never  decay,  or  putrefy,  or  in  any  sense  of 
tbe  word  deteriorate.  Some  of  our  earthly  posses¬ 
sions  must  be  guarded  with  great  care  or  they  will 
spoil  and  so  become  unfit  for  use,  but  tbe  inherit¬ 
ance  which  God  gives,  to  tbe  end  of  eternity,  will 
remain  pure  and  wholesome.  How  strange  that  an 
immortal  soul,  before  whose  eyes  such  glories  are 
displayed,  and  into  whose  possession  such  riches 
are  given,  should  turn  away  and  seek  for  vanities, 
things  that  perish  with  the  using,  trifles  that  may 
become  corrupt  before  they  can  profit  in  the  least. 
If  you  would  allow  your  soul,  which  is  now,  by 
your  own  wilfulness,  engulfed  in  a  sea  of  amaz¬ 
ing  corruption,  to  pierce  the  veil  of  self-imposed 
blindness,  it  would  become  so  ravished  at  sight  of 
heaven’s  joys  and  incorruptible  glories,  that  with 
pious  Monica  you  would  cry,  “  Wings !  Wings !  ” 

(2)  A  thing  is  defiled  when  it  is  made  foul  or 
impure,  when  it  is  filthy  or  dirty,  as  a  dish;  de¬ 
filement  is  pollution,  foulness,  dirtiness  or  unclean¬ 
ness.  These  terms  refer  strictly  to  outward  pollu¬ 
tion.  The  essential  substance  of  which  the  thing  is 
composed  may  be  as  wholesome  as  ever,  but  it  is 
covered  with  dirt  or  filth. 

Nothing  will  ever  approach  the  inheritance  of 
the  Christian  which  will  defile  or  contaminate  it. 


THE  INHERITANCE  OF  THE  SAINTS  29 


John  says  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God  keepethi 
himself  and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not. 
Satan,  in  his  reasonings  with  God,  declared  that 
Job  was  surrounded  with  a  hedge  through  which 
no  evil  could  come  to  him.  God’s  saints  are  pro¬ 
tected  with  a  wall  of  fire,  and  He  is  the  glory  in  the 
midst;  the  angels  of  the  Lord  encamp  about  them 
to  deliver  them;  as  the  mountains  are  about  Jeru¬ 
salem  so  is  the  Lord  about  His  children;  the  name 
of  the  Lord  is  a  strong  tower,  the  righteous  run 
into  it  and  are  safe. 

If  God  so  protects  His  people  from  defilement 
here,  it  stands  to  reason  that  He  will  keep  their 
inheritance  from  pollution.  In  the  Book  of  Rev¬ 
elation,  He  declares,  “  There  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  it  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever 
worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie.”  Thank 
God,  here  is  one  place  in  the  universe  where  the 
saints  are  safe,  and  will  be  forever  safe. 

“  No  chilling  winds  or  poisonous  breath 
Can  reach  that  healthful  shore; 

Sickness  and  sorrow,  pain  and  death. 

Are  felt  and  feared  no  more.” 

(3)  It"  fadeth  not  away.”  Rations  have  come 
and  gone ;  kings  have  worn  their  crowns  with  pomp 
and  splendour,  but  their  bodies  are  moldering  in 
the  dust ;  mighty  men  and  chief  captains  have 
crushed  the  people  under  their  iron  heels,  but  have, 
themselves,  been  forced  to  yield  to  the  grim  reaper, 
death;  cities,  built  by  man  as  though  they  would 


30  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


stand  forever,  are  gone,  and  some  of  them  are  now 
giving  up  their  buried  secrets  to  the  spade  of  the 
archeologist;  years  come  and  go;  our  days  fly  in 
and  out  like  the  weaver’s  shuttle;  springtime  with 
blossoms,  and  birds,  and  gladness;  summer  with 
sunshine,  and  glory-clad  fields,  and  autumn  with 
its  fruition  and  plenty,  are  followed  by  winter  with 
its  frosts  and  chilling  blasts,  its  desolation  and 
winding  sheet  of  snow  and  ice.  We  spend  our  lives 
as  a  tale  that  is  told;  the  cry  of  the  infant,  the 
merry  ripple  of  childish,  mirth,  the  buoyancy  of 
youth,  the  cares  of  manhood,  the  frosts  of  age ;  then 
a  lowly  mound  and  spectral  stone  tell  of  departed 
hopes  and  an  empty  home. 

Such  is  our  inheritance  in  this  world.  But  the 
inheritance  God  gives  “  fadeth  not  away.”  Its 
mighty  glories  will  eternally  ravish  the  soul  of 
their  happy  possessor;  this  gift,  like  the  bountiful 
Giver,  is  eternal.  George  Nitsch  says,  “  The  fount 
of  all  blessedness  is  to  be  found  where  the  mighty 
Jehovah  dwells,  from  whose  presence  constantly 
flow  such  varied  streams  of  unutterable  joy  upon 
body  and  soul  that  the  bliss  is  as  sweet  at  the  end 
of  millions  of  years  as  it  is  the  first  moment  a  man 
enters  heaven.” 

(4)  “  Reserved  in  heaven  for  you.”  Most  of 

us  are  naturally  spendthrifts.  When  we  see  a  thing 
we  desire  we  will  make  most  any  sacrifice  to  obtain 
it.  We  have  great  difficulty  in  seeing  beyond  the 
present  and  its  enjoyments.  Some  of  us  go  so  far 


THE  INHERITANCE  OF  THE  SAINTS  31 


as  to  even  forfeit  future  good  for  present  pleasure, 
future  joy  for  present  happiness,  and  future  heaven, 
for  worldly  honours  and  wealth. 

God,  realizing  this  propensity  in  man,  allows  us 
to  have  only  an  earnest  of  our  inheritance  here  and 
reserves  the  principal,  the  thing  itself,  till  we  get 
to  heaven.  It  is  strange  how  lavishly  we  would 
scatter  abroad  even  our  spiritual  blessings  if  we 
could.  There  are  two  striking  examples  in  the 
Bible.  When  God  told  Moses  to  stand  aside  and 
He  would  destroy  the  Israelites  and  make  of  him 
a  greater  nation,  Moses  threw  himself  in  the  gap 
between  an  offended  God  and  an  offending  people, 
and  said,  “  If  Thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin; — and  if 
not,  blot  me,  I  pray  Thee,  out  of  the  book  which 
Thou  hast  written.”  God  heard  the  desperation  of 
Moses’  prayer  and  spared  the  people,  but  would  not 
blot  him  out,  for  He  said,  “  Whosoever  hath  sinned 
against  me,  him  will  I  blot  out.” 

The  other  case  is  that  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  who, 
because  of  his  great  heaviness  and  continual  sor¬ 
row,  declared,  “  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  ac¬ 
cursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen 
according  to  the  flesh.” 

Thieves  may  take  our  inheritance  here,  but  that 
inheritance  moth  cannot  corrupt  nor  thieves  break 
through  and  steal.  Others  cannot  appropriate  it 
to  their  purposes,  it  is  reserved  for  the  rightful 
owners,  safe  in  the  Almighty’s  keeping. 

Concerning  the  glories  which  shall  be  fully  re- 


32  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


vealed  only  in  the  other  world,  Nathaniel  Culver- 
well  says,  “  Man  you  know  is  ordained  to  a  choicer 
end,  to  a  nobler  happiness,  than  for  the  present  he 
can  attain  unto,  and  therefore  he  cannot  expect 
that  God  should  now  communicate  Himself  in  such 
bright  and  open  discoveries,  in  such  glorious  mani¬ 
festations  of  Himself  as  He  means  to  give  here¬ 
after.  But  he  must  be  content  to  behold  these  in¬ 
finite  treasures  of  reserved  love,  in  a  darker  and 
more  shadowy  way  of  faith,  and  not  of  wisdom. 
*  *  *  ^he  mog£  ^fiat  man’s  reason  can  do,  is  to 

fill  the  understanding  to  the  brim;  but  Faith,  that 
throws  the  soul  into  the  Ocean,  and  lets  it  roll  and 
bathe  itself  in  the  vastness  and  fullness  of  a 


KEPT  BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD 

“Who  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God.” — I  Peter  1:5. 


I  "HETER  may  have  meant  all  right,  but  he 
trusted  the  wrong  person.  He  loved  Jesus 
JL  with  all  the  power  of  his  impetuous  heart ; 
his  life  had  become  so  knit  to  the  life  of  his  divine 
Master,  that,  like  many  others,  he  thought  nothing 
could  sever  them;  hut,  alas,  he  trusted  Peter  in¬ 
stead  of  Christ,  and  Peter  was  a  very  insecure 
foundation.  His  impetuosity  which,  when  rightly 
directed,  made  him  a  leader  for  good,  if  wrongly 
directed,  would  send  him  just  as  swiftly  in  the 
other  direction. 

Ho  man  can  trust  his  own  natural  heart.  It  is 
“  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked, 
who  can  know  it  ?  ”  The  unenlightened  mind  is 
constantly  misinterpreting  the  movements  of  the 
soul.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  hear  a  proud  person 
boasting  of  his  humility,  for  a  stingy  man  to  talk 
of  his  own  liberality,  or  for  a  vile  person  to  forget 
his  own  defects  and  display  the  defects  of  others. 
The  writer  will  never  forget  the  picture  in  an  old 
reader  of  a  miserable  little  hunchback  jeeringly 
pointing  at  the  hump  on  the  back  of  the  man  walk- 


34  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


in g  ahead  of  him.  The  wise  man  declares  that  “  all 
the  ways  of  a  man  are  right  in  his  own  eyes.” 

By  overestimating  his  own  strength,  Peter  got 
out  of  connection  with  the  source  of  true  strength. 
Thrown  back  on  his  own  resources,  like  the  rest 
of  us  would  be,  he  was  as  weak  as  water.  When 
he  saw  his  weakness  without  Christ,  weeping  bit¬ 
terly,  he  returned  to  his  source  of  power. 

But  it  takes  more  than  the  sight  of  one’s  own 
filthiness  to  cause  true  repentance.  This  comes 
when  our  vileness  is  contrasted  with  Christ’s  loveli¬ 
ness,  our  unholiness  with  Christ’s  holiness,  our 
weakness  with  His  strength.  When  our  sins  are 
seen  as  a  millstone  eternally  dragging  us  from  God 
into  awful  and  enduring  corruption,  we  are  ready 
to  cry,  “  What  shall  I  do  ?  ” 

When  Peter  beheld  the  sufferings  of  Christ  his 
own  sufferings  looked  insignificant.  My  brother, 
are  you  discouraged  ?  Do  the  burdens  of  life  press 
you  sorely?  Do  the  crosses  you  bear  cause  the 
tears  to  flow  unbidden  down  your  cheeks?  Then 
“  consider  Him  who  endured  such  contradiction  of 
sinners  against  Himself,  lest  ye  be  wearied  and 
faint  in  your  minds.”  Here  is  strength,  here  is 
keeping  power. 

John  Flavel  says,  “Are  you  staggered  at  your 
sufferings  and  the  hard  things  you  must  endure  for 
Christ  in  this  world?  Doth  the  flesh  shrink  from 
these  things,  and  cry,  Spare  thyself?  What  is 
there  more  likely  to  fortify  thy  spirit  with  resolu- 


KEPT  BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD 


35 


tion  and  courage  than  such  a  sight  as  this?  Did 
Christ  meet  the  wrath  of  man  and  the  wrath  of 
God,  too?  Did  He  stand  with  unbroken  patience 
and  steadfast  resolution  under  such  troubles,  and 
shall  I  shrink  for  a  trifle?  Ah,  He  did  not  serve 
me  so !  I  will  arm  myself  with  the  like  mind.” 

A  sight  of  the  wonderful  compassion  of  Christ 
who  turned  and  looked  with  such  melting  tender¬ 
ness  on  His  erring  disciple  broke  the  heart  of  Peter 
till  he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.  How  he  was 
disappointed  in  himself!  How  his  own  strength 
was  shown  to  be  weakness !  How  he  must,  in 
spirit,  have  crowded  up  close  to  his  suffering  Mas¬ 
ter  in  that  hour !  Let  us  venture  the  assertion  that 
he  never  lost  connection  again:  this  was  his  lesson 
in  the  vanity  of  self-reliance  and  the  necessity  of 
the  keeping  power  of  God. 

“  Reserved — for  you,  who  are  kept  by  the  power 
of  God.”  The  inheritance  is  only  for  those  who 
are  “  kept.”  The  inheritance  is  “  reserved  ”  or 
kept  for  a  people  who  in  their  turn  are  kept.  The 
same  great  heart  of  love  that  is  keeping  you  is  re- 
serving  your  inheritance.  What  a  day  of  glad  sur¬ 
prises  there  will  be  when  the  great  Lover  of  souls 
brings  the  two  together!  Then  the  dark  things 
shall  be  plain,  and  we  shall  go  in  to  our  glory  never 
to  come  out  again. 

“  But  angels  themselves  cannot  tell 
The  joys  of  that  heavenly  place, 

Where  Jesus  is  pleased  to  reveal 
The  light  of  His  heavenly  face: 


36 


THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


When,  caught  in  the  rapturous  flame, 

The  sight  beatific  they  prove; 

And  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lamb, 

Enjoying  the  beams  of  His  love.” 

God  has  special  blessings  for  His  children ; 
among  these,  one  of  the  greatest  is  His  keeping 
power.  There  is  not  another  religion  in  the  world 
that  even  remotely  professes  to  keep  its  votaries 
from  sin.  Imagine  a  disciple  of  Mohammed,  or 
Buddha,  or  Confucius,  no  matter  how  pious,  ex¬ 
claiming,  “  I  know  whom  I  have  believed  and  am 
persuaded,  that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I 
have  committed  unto  Him  against  that  day.”  The 
very  thought  of  such  a  thing  seems  so  absurd  that 
it  almost  causes  one  to  smile.  (Some  who  call 
themselves  Christians  would  like  to  place  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion  on  the  same  low  plain  of  powerless¬ 
ness  and  inefficiency  as  heathen  religions.  If  you 
do  not  desire  to  be  guilty  of  such  a  sin,  never  say 
again  that  God  is  unable  or  unwilling,  nor  that  He 
does  not  keep  His  children  from  sin.)  The  reason 
of  this  power  of  Christianity  lies  in  the  fact  that 
in  its  conception,  its  origin,  its  workings,  its  essen¬ 
tial  composition,  it  is  divine.  It  is  not  simply  an 
emanation  from  God,  having  God  as  its  author  but 
now  existing  independent  of  Him,  but  it  carries 
with  it  the  power  of  God,  nay,  more,  God  Him¬ 
self.  Jesus  did  not  say,  “  I  go  away  and  leave  my 
word  with  you,”  but,  “  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.” 

Oh,  the  joy  of  possessing  an  ever-present  Christ ! 


KEPT  BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD 


37 


He  wlio  dwells  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  him  may 
drink  constantly  of  divine  pleasures.  In  a  waste 
and  desert  land  he  may  find  streams  of  living  water, 
and  bathe  his  weary  soul  in  the  river  that  makes 
glad  the  city  of  God.  A’Kempis  says,  “  Christ  will 
come  unto  thee,  and  show  thee  His  own  consolation, 
if  thou  prepare  for  Him  a  worthy  mansion  within 
thee.  All  His  glory  and  beauty  is  from  within, 
and  there  He  delighteth  Himself.  The  inward 
man  He  often  visiteth;  and  hath  with  Him  sweet 
discourses,  pleasant  solace,  much  peace,  familiarity 
exceeding  wonderful.” 

Then  why  should  we  worry  ?  Our  Keeper  neither 
slumbers  nor  sleeps.  The  almighty  power  of  the 
infinite  godhead  is  pledged  to  see  us  through.  We 
put  our  money  in  the  bank,  and  rest  easy;  hut 
banks  break  up.  We  put  our  seed  in  the  ground, 
and  go  to  sleep ;  hut  seasons  fail.  We  perform  our 
daily  tasks  and  give  ourselves  no  anxiety  as  to  the 
receiving  of  our  pay;  hut  corporations  as  well  as 
individuals  fail.  Why  can  we  not  as  well,  nay, 
much  better,  trust  God  ?  His  promises  never  fail. 

“  There’s  a  heart,  there’s  a  hand, 

We  can  feel  but  cannot  see. 

We’ve  always  been  provided  for. 

And  we  shall  always  be.” 

The  whole  world  was  destroyed  by  the  flood,  but 
eight  persons,  hidden  away  in  the  ark,  rode  safely 
over  the  surging  waves;  they  were  kept  by  the 
power  of  God.  “  Few  and  evil  ”  were  the  days  of 


38  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


the  pilgrimage  of  Jacob  (120  years  at  the  time  be 
said  this),  but  in  tbe  midst  of  bis  enemies  God 
bad  His  band  on  bim  for  good,  and  even  tbe  events 
that  seemed  adverse  were  guided  by  providence, 
and  were  part  of  tbe  all-wise  plan  in  making  Jacob 
a  blessing.  Tbe  cities  of  tbe  plain  were  over¬ 
thrown,  but  Lot  and  bis  two  daughters  escaped  by 
tbe  power  of  God.  Paul,  surrounded  by  enemies 
thirsting  for  bis  blood,  in  perils  by  land  and  sea, 
in  perils  among  tbe  heathen  and  among  false 
brethren,  could  say,  “  All  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God,”  and,  “  In  all  these 
things  we  are  more  than  conquerors.” 

The  same  almighty  power  that  kept  Noah  in  tbe 
ark,  that  freed  Lot  from  doomed  Sodom,  that 
guided  Jacob  through  bis  pilgrimage,  that  stood  by 
Paul  before  angry  mobs  and  haughty  kings,  is 
pledged  to  see  me  through ;  He  keeps  tbe  sparrows 
that  neither  sow  nor  gather  into  bams,  He  numbers 
tbe  hairs  of  my  bead,  He  says  to  tbe  enemy  of  my 
soul,  “ Hitherto  sbalt  thou  come,  but  no  further;” 
He  says  to  my  soul,  With  every  temptation  no  mat¬ 
ter  bow  fierce  it  may  seem,  I  will  make  a  way  of 
escape. 


V 

SALVATION  BY  FAITH 


“  Kept  *  *  *  through  faith  unto  salvation  ready  to  he 
revealed  m  the  last  time.” — I  Petee  1:5. 

WHILE  Peter  looked  to  Jesus  lie  walked 
on  the  water;  when  he  looked  at  the 
waves  he  sank.  In  his  trouble  he  cried 
to  Jesus,  “  Lord,  save  me!  ”  Tenderly  taking  him 
by  the  hand,  and  holding  him  up,  in  gentle  reproof 
the  Lord  said,  “  O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
didst  thou  doubt  ?  ”  What  a  telling  rebuke  to  a 
timid  heart  that  would  look  on  the  waves,  roll  they 
ever  so  high!  What  a  lesson  to  teach  us  that  we 
should  have  confidence  in  God !  And,  again,  what 
a  marvelous  display  of  God’s  power  and  care!  Ho 
wonder,  when  they  saw  this  miracle,  and  the  wind 
immediately  ceasing,  that  the  disciples  fell  at 
Jesus’  feet  and  worshiped  Him,  saying,  “  Of  a 
truth  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God.” 

It  is  not  faith,  in  itself,  that  works  miracles; 
but  it  is  faith  through  which  miraculous  powers  are 
set  in  operation.  While  true  faith  is  all  but  omnipo¬ 
tent, — “  All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believ- 
eth,” — yet  it  steadfastly  refuses  to  attempt  a  spec¬ 
tacular  demonstration  of  its  ability  and  thus  tempt 

39 


40  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


God ;  but  false  faith — presumption — foolishly  easts 
itself  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  and  is 
dashed,  helpless,  on  the  pavement  below.  F aith  may 
be  wrongly  grounded  and  hence  be  powerless,  but 
when  once 

“  Her  feet  are  firmly  planted  on  the  Rock, 

Then  ’mid  the  wildest  storms  she  stands  undaunted, 

Nor  quails  before  the  loudest  thunder  shock; 

She  knows  Omnipotence  has  heard  her  prayer, 

Cries,  It  shall  be  answered,  sometime,  somewhere.” 

Faith  leaves  self  and  touches  divinity.  Faith 
leaves  all  else  and  stands  alone,  naked,  trusting  and 
confident,  on  J esus  Christ,  the  Rock  of  Ages. 
Phillips  Brooks  defines  faith  thus,  “  F-a-i-t-h 
means,  Forsaking  All,  I  Take  Him.” 

Faith  is  as  necessary  in  pleasing  Him  as  the  con¬ 
fidence  of  a  child  in  its  parents  is  a  necessity  in 
pleasing  them.  “  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God.” 

Confidence  in  all  of  God’s  word  is  a  necessity  in 
order  that  we  may  trustfully  and  reverently  ap¬ 
proach  any  part  of  it;  for  as  human  beings,  we 
would  reason,  “  If  His  word  fails  once  it  may  al¬ 
ways  fail.” 

Trust  in  God’s  ability  to  fulfil  His  word  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  the  miracle-working  power 
of  faith;  for,  if  God  cannot,  because  of  impotence, 
perform  any  given  act,  how  can  I  know  that  He  is 
able  to  accomplish  this  thing  for  which  I  plead? 
But  if  I  know  that  He  is  able  to  do,  and  that  He 
desires  to  do,  the  thing  for  which  I  pray,  I  have 


SALVATION  BY  FAITH 


41 


strong  grounds  for  believing  that  He  will  do  that 
thing. 

✓  _ 

Hence,  we  conclude,  with  Wesley,  that  genuine 
trust  rests  on  a  foundation  that  amounts  to  assur¬ 
ance.  Is  not  this  what  John  means  when  he  says, 
“  This  is  the  confidence  that  we  have  in  Him,  that, 
if  we  ask  anything  according  to  His  will,  He  hear- 
eth  us :  and  if  we  know  that  He  hear  us,  whatsoever 
we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have  the  petitions  that  we 
desired  of  Him  ”  ?  What  a  firm  foundation  upon 
which  to  rest  the  feet  of  our  faith!  What  an  as¬ 
surance  of  faith! 

Some  teach  that  all  men  naturally  have  faith, 
and  what  all  sinners  need  to  do  is  to  exercise 
powers  that  they  already  possess  and  they  will  be 
saved.  But  this  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God, 
which  declares  that  “  all  men  have  not  faith,”  and 
is  one  of  the  exploded  tenets  of  the  so-called  semi- 
Pelagian  heresy.  “  Faith,”  as  well  as  grace,  “  is 
the  gift  of  God,”  and  He  gives  to  all  men  who  will 
receive,  and  gives  liberally. 

Faith  gets  us  into  contact  with  God,  the  object  of 
faith;  faith  connects  us  with  God,  the  power  of 
faith ;  saving  faith  brings  into  the  heart  and  life 
God  Himself,  saving,  cleansing,  keeping,  empower¬ 
ing  and  glorifying. 

Those  who  claim  that  it  is  impossible  to  live  free 
from  sin  surely  take  this  stand  because  they  fail  to 
realize  the  power  possessed  by  a  soul  whose  tri¬ 
umphant  faith  touches  divinity.  They  are  judg- 


42  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


ing  with  reference  to  their  own  unaided  powers, 
and  are  leaving  God  and  His  power  out  of  the 
question.  If  we  can,  in  the  spirit,  lose  confidence 
in  our  own  ability  to  stand,  and,  in  faith,  throw 
ourselves  into  the  arms  of  divinity,  we  need  never 
fail,  for  underneath  are  the  everlasting,  omnipotent 
arms. 

“  Unto  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last 
time.”  Some  think  that  the  apostle  means  to  say 
that  the  salvation  of  which  He  speaks  is  ready  to 
be  revealed  in  the  last  time;  others,  that  the  person 
who  has  salvation  is  ready  to  be  revealed  either 
here  or  in  the  last  time.  The  revised  version  reads 
thus:  “Who  by  the  power  of  God  are  guarded 
through  faith  unto  a  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed 
in  the  last  time.” 

The  salvation  of  God  saves  both  in  this  world 
and  in  the  world  to  come.  In  this  world  we  get 
only  glimpses  of  its  mighty  glories,  for,  “  Eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  pre¬ 
pared  for  them  that  love  Him.” 

If  a  sight  of  the  immortal  glories  of  eternal 
salvation  fail  to  rouse  my  sluggish  powers  to  in¬ 
tense  action  that  the  prize  may  be  gained,  I  am 
surely  far  from  God.  0  God !  win  my  earth-loving 
and  heaven-rejecting  self  from  the  paltry  things  of 
time ;  so  center  and  control  my  whole  being,  my  af¬ 
fections,  my  desires,  my  ambitions,  my  mind,  my 
body,  my  spirit,  my  all  and  in  all,  that  they  all  may 


SALVATION  BY  FAITH 


43 


harmonize,  like  one  strain  in  a  grand  orchestra, 
with  those  pursuits  and  tempers  which  make  glad 
the  angelic  choirs. 

Salvation,  in  this  world,  is  deliverance  from  sin. 
“  His  name  shall  be  called  J esus,  for  He  shall  save 
His  people  from  their  sins.”  Some  one  has  said 
that  we  should  not  he  ashamed  of  anything  but  sin. 
But  God  proposes  to  take  away  both  guilt  and  pol¬ 
lution,  and  along  with  them,  the  shame  for  sin,  by 
the  incoming  of  His  great  salvation;  then,  they 
that  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  never  be  ashamed. 

But  salvation  in  its  final  outcome  means  more 
than  this.  Let  us  note  a  few  of  these  things. 

It  means  deliverance  from  temptation.  In  this 
world  our  adversary,  the  devil,  the  accuser  of  the 
brethren,  goeth  about  as  a  roaring  lion  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour,  or  as  an  angel  of  light,  at¬ 
tempting  to  deceive.  But  if  the  child  of  God  is 
faithful  he  will  finally  and  forever  escape  all  these 
dangers. 

Salvation  means  deliverance  from  every  bodily 
infirmity.  The  poet  truly  says: 

“  No  chilling  winds  or  poisonous  breath 
Can  reach  that  healthful  shore; 

Bickness  and  sorrow,  pain  and  death. 

Are  felt  and  feared  no  more." 

Salvation  means  deliverance  from  infirmities  of 
the  mind.  Not  that  the  saint  shall  ever  be  infinite 
or  omniscient,  but,  in  his  sphere  he  will  know  all 
he  should  know,  and  will  never  err  in  judgment, 


44  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


for  lie  will  draw  his  wisdom  fresh  from  the  fount 
of  all  wisdom,  and  with  unclouded  vision  will  look 
into  the  face  of  the  All-Wise. 

Salvation  means  to  exchange  an  earthly  home  for 
a  heavenly  home.  Some  teach  that  we  shall  not  go 
to  heaven,  but  shall  inherit,  forever,  this  earth; 
others  limit  our  habitation  on  the  earth  to  a  thou¬ 
sand  years.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  will  all  admit 
that  if  the  Paradise  of  the  saints  is  on  this  earth, 
the  earth,  of  necessity,  must  he  renewed.  Some 
have  caught  enrapturing  visions  of  a  glorified  earth 
with  luxurious  vegetation,  bursting  fruits  and  per¬ 
fect  peace;  but  my  soul  catches  a  glimpse  of  that 
land  where  the  ransomed  have  trod,  a  city  which 
hath  foundations,  whose  streets  are  paved  with  pure 
gold,  whose  walls  are  jasper,  and  whose  gates  are 
pearls;  a  city  which  hath  no  need  of  the  sun  or 
moon  for  light,  for  the  Lamb  is  the  light  of  it;  a 
city  in  which  there  is  no  need  of  houses  for  warmth 
or  shade  from  the  heat,  for  neither  shall  the  sun 
light  on  them  nor  any  heat. 

Finally,  salvation  means  eternal  felicity.  A 
happy  deathbed,  a  glorious  resurrection,  a  place 
with  the  glorified  at  the  judgment,  and  an  abiding 
seat  at  God’s  right  hand;  the  companionship  of 
angels  and  archangels,  of  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  and  best  of  all,  of  the  Man  who  died 
for  us,  His  thorn-pierced  but  now  glorified  brow 
shining  with  heavenly  radiance.  With  nail-pierced 
hands  He  will  lead  His  ransomed  to  fountains  of 


SALVATION  BY  FAITH 


145 


living  water,  to  streams  where  they  can  drink  for¬ 
ever  of  divine  pleasure,  and  gaze  eternally  with  en¬ 
raptured  vision  into  the  face  of  benignant  deity. 

O  my  soul,  though  great  thy  trials,  greater  still 
thy  coming  joys;  though  great  thy  burdens,  greater 
still  thy  coming  release;  though  great  thy  suffer¬ 
ings,  greater  still  thy  coming  glory.  Then  weary 
not,  if  thy  hands  he  torn  with  thorns;  they  shall 
he  healed  with  leaves  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  he 
given  palms  of  victory  to  wave  with  the  glorified. 
Though  thy  lot  he  sorrowful  and  thy  trials  severe, 
these  conflicts  shall  soon  have  an  end ;  and,  if  faith¬ 
ful,  thy  tired  brow  shall  he  crowned  with  never- 
fading  garlands  of  victory  and  thou  shalt  shine 
with  the  light  which  Christ  has  given  thee  as  the 
stars  forever  and  ever. 

Richard  Baxter  says :  “  Thou  shalt  never  suffer 
thy  old  temptations  from  Satan,  the  world,  or  thy 
own  flesh.  Thy  pains  and  sickness  are  all  cured; 
thy  body  shall  no  more  burden  thee  with  weakness 
and  weariness,  thy  aching  head  and  heart,  thy  hun¬ 
ger  and  thirst,  thy  sleep  and  labour,  are  all  gone. 
Oh,  what  a  mighty  change  is  this !  From  the  dung¬ 
hill  to  the  throne !  F rom  persecuting  sinners  to 
praising  saints!  From  a  vile  body  to  this  which 
shines  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament!  From 
a  sense  of  God’s  displeasures  to  the  perfect  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  Him  in  love!  From  all  my  doubts  and 
fears,  to  this  possession,  which  puts  me  out  of 
doubt!  From  all  my  fearful  thoughts  of  death,  to 


46 


THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


this  joyful  life!  Blessed  change!  Farewell  sin 
and  sorrow  forever;  farewell  my  rocky,  proud,  un¬ 
believing  heart;  my  worldly,  sensual,  carnal  heart; 
and  welcome  now  my  most  holy,  heavenly  nature. 
Farewell  repentance,  faith,  and  hope;  and  welcome 
love,  joy  and  praise.  I  shall  now  have  my  harvest, 
without  plowing  or  sowing;  my  joy,  without  a 
preacher  or  a  promise;  even  all  from  the  face  of 
God  Himself.  Whatever  mixture  is  in  the  streams, 
there  is  nothing  but  pure  joy  in  the  fountain.  Here 
shall  I  be  encircled  with  eternity,  and  ever  live, 
and  ever,  ever  praise  the  Lord;  my  face  will  not 
wrinkle,  nor  my  hair  be  gray;  ‘  For  this  corrupt¬ 
ible  shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal, 
immortality,  and  death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in 
victory.’  ” 


MANIFOLD  TEMPTATIONS 


“  Wherein  ye  greatly  rejoice,  though  now  for  a  season,  if 
need  le,  ye  are  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temptations 
— I  Peter  1:6. 

THE  fisherman  of  Galilee  had  not  learned 
to  suffer  with  Jesus.  Mounts  and  mira¬ 
cles  may  strengthen  one’s  faith  in  the 
deity  of  Christ,  hut  such  experiences  alone  will 
leave  the  feet  so  soft  and  tender  that  they  are  liable 
to  he  mercilessly  torn  by  the  thorns  of  afflictions. 
Weeping  Jeremiah,  up  from  the  miry  dungeon, 
could  say,  “  I  am  the  man  that  hath  seen  affliction 
by  the  rod  of  His  wrath,”  hut  in  spite  of  his  an¬ 
guish  he  could  add,  “  The  Lord  is  my  portion,  saith 
my  soul;  therefore  will  I  hope  in  Him.”  Delec¬ 
table  mountains  ravish  our  souls  and  give  them 
wings  of  delight ;  valleys  of  afflictions  try  our 
graces,  shake  up  our  roots,  and,  if  we  remain  faith¬ 
ful,  settle  us  deeper  in  God. 

Peter  had  been  given  so  many  revelations  that 
for  his  own  good  he  must  he  tried.  He  had  lived 
in  the  inner  and  most  select  circle  of  the  disciples. 
Peter,  James  and  John  touched  nearest  to  the  heart 
of  their  Master.  Simon  Barjona  knew  and  loved 
his  Lord  so  well  that  he  vowed  he  would  never  leave 


48  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


Him,  but  be  spoke  too  quick,  be  bad  not  jet  entered 
tbe  furnace.  Afflictions  suddenly  came  heaping  on 
and  that  so  heavily  that  be  slept  for  sorrow  of 
heart.  Now  is  tbe  time,  Peter,  to  build  taber¬ 
nacles  ;  now  is  tbe  time  to  show  a  practical  love  for 
tbe  object  of  your  affections.  Can  you  not  suffer 
with  Him  one  little  hour  ?  Do  you  not  know  that 
a  suffering  love  is  more  to  be  honoured  than  a  re¬ 
joicing  love? 

Ob,  poor,  weak,  stumbling  humanity !  How  apt 
are  we,  like  Peter,  to  fall  down  in  tbe  furnace,  and 
by  our  weakness  to  add  fuel  to  tbe  fires  of  our  al¬ 
ready  manifold  trials ! 

It  is  all  right  to  rejoice,  but  we  should  not  be¬ 
come  so  engrossed  in  our  rejoicing  that  we  will  fail 
when  reverses  come.  After  all  there  is  something 
in  sorrows  which  are  borne  aright  that  is  salutary 
and  helpful  to  the  soul. 

The  best  frame  of  mind  is  that  of  entire,  uncom¬ 
promising  resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  If  of¬ 
fenses  come,  why  should  I  complain  and  curse  the 
rod?  This  rod  and  these  offenses  may  be  but  a 
goad  in  the  hands  of  an  all-loving  Father  to  drive 

me  towards  heaven.  How  do  I  know  but  that  they 

«/ 

may  be  a  necessity  to  my  eternal  salvation  ?  Avril- 
lon  wrote:  “As  the  sweetest  and  most  exquisite 
honey  is  obtained  only  from  the  sweetest  and  most 
odoriferous  flowers  which  contain  it,  my  lips  can¬ 
not  sing  hymns  that  shall  please  my  heavenly 
Spouse,  unless  my  heart,  from  whence  they  ema- 


MANIFOLD  TEMPTATIONS 


49 


nate,  and  which  produces  them,  be  pure,  and  my 
love  for  Him  undivided  and  without  alloy.  Yet, 
0  God  of  Purity,  I  cannot  labour  alone  for  the 
purification  of  this  heart,  because  I  am  weak  and 
blind.  Assist  me,  enlighten  me,  to  know  and  to 
cleanse  the  least  stains  which  are  displeasing  to 
Thine  eyes,  and  which  escape  my  self-love.  Sprin¬ 
kle  me  with  hyssop,  that  I  may  be  clean,  and  that 
this  salutary  bitterness  may  destroy  in  me  the  taste 
of  every  sweet  which  comes  not  from  thee.  Wash 
me  also  with  the  pure  waters  of  victorious  grace, 
that  I  may  become  whiter  than  snow:  or  rather, 
Lord,  send  from  the  throne  of  flames  and  fire 
whereon  Thou  sittest,  divine  ardours  which  may 
instruct,  enlighten,  and  inflame  me,  and  which  may 
consume  in  my  heart  even  the  smallest  defilements 
with  which  it  is  stained.” 

“For  a  season,  if  need  be,  ye  are  in  heaviness 
through  manifold  temptations.”  Great  rejoicing  in 
the  midst  of  many  temptations !  “  As  sorrowful, 

yet  always  rejoicing!”  “Blessed  are  ye  that 
mourn,  for  ye  shall  be  comforted.” 

The  apostle  seems  to  teach  that  there  may  be 
times  when  “  manifold  temptations  ”  are  a  neces¬ 
sity.  Paul  needed  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger 
of  Satan  to  buffet  him,  lest  he  should  be  exalted 
above  measure,  and  thus  lose  his  soul.  The  ancient 
world  needed  the  flood;  Sodom,  a  rain  of  fire  and 
brimstone ;  Capernaum,  which  was  exalted  to 
heaven,  must  be  brought  down  to  hell;  Jerusalem, 


50  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


whose  pride  caused  her  to  stone  the  prophets  and 
pierce  the  Son  of  God,  must  he  overthrown;  these 
all  refused  correction  and  perished.  But  not  all 
who  are  humbled  are  thus  destroyed.  Moses,  in  the 
back  side  of  the  desert,  humbled,  but  praying,  met 
God;  David,  from  the  wilderness  and  caves  of 
Judea,  arose  to  the  throne;  Paul,  from  a  three 
years’  sojourn  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  became  the 
chiefest  of  the  apostles ;  J oseph,  in  the  face  of  fear¬ 
ful  temptations,  was  true  to  God,  and  from  the 
dungeon  was  exalted  to  royal  honours ;  Israel  came 
forth  from  Egypt’s  iron  furnace  with  shoes  of  brass 
and  iron  and  garments  that  lasted  forty  years,  a 
terror  to  evil  nations,  and  even  wicked  Balaam 
heard  the  shout  of  a  king  among  them. 

Did  temptations  ever  heap  on  your  soul  till  you 
feared  your  life  would  be  crushed  out?  Did  you 
ever  try  to  dig  your  way  out  of  the  maze,  turning 
over  one  layer  after  another  with  so  little  success 
that  you  feared  you  would  never  reach  daylight? 
This  is  manifold  temptations.  Such  trials  must 
produce  more  or  less  heaviness. 

At  the  foundation  and  as  the  primary  cause  of 
all  temptations  is  the  devil.  As  in  the  beginning 
he  is  still  bent  on  the  destruction  of  mankind,  and 
will  do  all  that  diabolical  ingenuity  can  contrive  to 
accomplish  his  end.  Unless  it  is  his  “  infernal  off¬ 
spring,”  carnality,  from  which  you  are  delivered 
if  your  heart  is  cleansed,  you  can  have  no  more  dan¬ 
gerous  foe.  As  a  lion  he  roars  on  his  prey;  as  a 


MANIFOLD  TEMPTATIONS 


51 


tiger  he  crouches  to  spring  on  the  unsuspecting;  as 
a  serpent  he  would  beguile;  as  foaming  waves  of 
the  sea  he  would  devour  the  helpless;  as  lurking 
malaria  he  would  steal  away  our  strength;  he  is 
everything  cruel  and  designing,  no  means  are  too 
low  for  him  to  use  to  accomplish  his  ends. 

The  needs  of  each  individual  are  so  varied  and 
so  often  cross  the  rights  of  others  that  trials  must 
come.  Good  people  will  misunderstand  us  and  had 
people  will  mistreat  us ;  those  who  love  us  will  flat¬ 
ter,  those  who  hate  will  slander,  and  indifferent 
ones  will  pass  coldly  by;  differences  real  and  imag¬ 
inary  are  sure  to  arise  (and  imaginary  differences 
are  liable  to  be  worse  than  real  differences)  ;  the 
tendency  of  all  this  is  to  produce  heaviness  and 
calls  for  the  exercise  of  the  grace  of  long-suf¬ 
fering. 

At  times  everything  seems  to  go  wrong,  all  our 
plans  fail,  our  hopes  are  disappointed,  friends  shun 
us,  foes  deride  us,  crops  fail,  banks  break  up,  our 
job  is  gone,  sickness  comes,  death  rends  the  family, 
these  things  and  others,  single-handed  or  by  the 
dozen,  add  to  the  weight  of  temptations  already  too 
heavy  for  human  endurance. 

To  all  this  add  the  natural  tendency  of  the  human 
mind  to  magnify  difficulties,  to  listen  to  the  devil 
and  be  annoyed  by  other  circumstances ;  the  natural 
appetites  and  desires  clamoring  for  gratification, 
and  persistence  of  false  doctrines,  and  many  other 
things,  ad  infinitum,  which  all  at  once  come  rolling 


52  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


over  our  heads  like  billows  and  threaten  our  de¬ 
struction.  Can  any  soul  in  such  a  strait  keep  from 
declaring  with  the  Psalmist,  “  Thou  has  laid  me 
in  the  lowest  pit,  in  darkness,  in  the  deeps.  Thy 
wrath  lieth  hard  upon  me,  and  Thou  hast  afflicted 
me  with  all  Thy  waves.  I  am  shut  up,  and  I  can¬ 
not  come  forth  ”  ? 

My  brother,  did  you  ever  stop  to  consider  that 
all  these  multiplied  trials  can  be  turned  into  a 
blessing  ?  and  that  you  can  have  so  much  grace  that 
each  added  difficulty  will  only  be  an  added  reason 
for  greater  attainments? 

Trials,  if  borne  in  the  Spirit,  soften,  subdue, 
melt  and  humble  the  soul.  Let  them  heap  on,  trial 
upon  trial,  burden  on  burden,  misunderstandings, 
bereavements,  sickness,  weakness,  and  all  the  rest, 
just  set  your  face  heavenward,  plant  your  feet  on 
the  promises  and  look  to  Jesus  and  you  will  come 
off  more  than  conqueror. 

The  following  is  from  James  Caughey:  “  There 
are  herbs,  you  know,  whose  virtue  consists  chiefly 
in  their  fragrance,  but  some  of  them  are  quite 
scentless  and  uninteresting  till  bruised:  then  they 
shed  their  perfume  all  around.  Thus  it  is  with 
many  a  Christian.  The  fragrance  of  his  piety  is 
never  diffused  abroad  until  he  is  well  bruised;  till 

'Hell  has  won  its  will, 

To  wring  his  soul  with  agony!  * 

“  ‘  Our  prayers  and  meditations,’  said  a  good  man, 


MANIFOLD  TEMPTATIONS 


53 


*  like  hot  spices,  are  most  fragrant  when  our  hearts 
are  bruised  in  God’s  mortar,  and  broken  with  afflic¬ 
tions  and  troubles.’  When  such  a  one,  after  a  day 
or  week  of  trial,  speaks  in  a  class  or  love-feast,  an 
influence  from  heaven  descends  upon  all  around.  I 
have  frequently  observed  this,  and  have  felt,  with 
the  poet, 

‘  ’Tis  even  as  if  an  angel  shook  his  wings — 

Immortal  fragrance  fill3  the  circuit  wide/  ” 


VII 

THE  TRIAL  OE  OUR  FAITH 


et  That  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more  precious 
than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  with  fire, 
might  be  found  unto  praise  and  honour  and  glory  at  the 
appearing  of  Jesus  Christ — I  Peter  1:7. 


AJT  times  Peter’s  faith  assumed  such  pro¬ 
portions  as  to  he  almost  audacious,  and, 
because  of  his  audacity,  his  failures  were 
all  the  more  apparent.  But  as  some  one  has  said, 
“  It  is  always  better  to  try  and  fail  than  not  to  try 
at  all.”  PetePs  faith  caused  him  to  try  walking 
on  the  water.  He  failed  because  his  faith  faltered, 
but  he  had  tried,  and  this  was  much  more  than  any 
of  the  rest  of  the  disciples  had  done.  Even  though 
he  did  fail  to  walk  the  waves,  yet  he  reached  the 
arms  of  J esus,  his  goal,  and  the  rest  stood  trembling 
in  the  ship. 

Back  in  the  nature  of  that  humble,  impetuous 
Galilean  fisherman  were  possibilities  which  must 
be  brought  out  or  the  greatest  good  could  never  be 
secured  from  his  life.  A  machine  is  not  perfected 
by  observing  and  dwelling  alone  on  its  good  quali¬ 
ties,  but  its  weak  places  must  be  searched  out  and 
corrected.  This  can  only  be  done  by  subjecting  it 
to  the  same  pressure  or  causing  it  to  do  the  same 

work  it  must  do  when  put  to  actual  service.  A  ma- 

54 


THE  TRIAL  OF  OUR  FAITH 


55 


chine  may  work  in  theory,  but,  like  Darius  Green’ 3 
wings,  fail  when  put  to  the  test. 

A  man  may  learn  theories,  hut  grace  itself  is 
proven  by  trials.  Peter’s  grace,  put  to  the  test, 
failed.  This  trial,  although  it  was  the  cause  of 
temporary  loss  and  sorrow,  was  much  more  precious 
to  the  apostle  than  gold.  USTot  that  we  would  say 
that  his  fall  was  a  blessing  to  him,  but  the  lesson 
learned  was  one  that  would  be  remembered,  espe¬ 
cially  when  it  had  been  learned  at  such  a  cost. 

Trials  are  a  necessity  to  bring  out  our  best.  We 
never  know  either  how  much  or  how  little  we 
amount  to  till  we  are  tried.  We  may  think  we  are 
standing  ever  so  firmly,  only  to  be  overthrown  by 
the  smallest  wind  of  adversity;  or  we  may  feel  so 
weak  that  we  fear  the  least  approach  of  evil  and 
tremble  lest  we  should  fall,  when  our  very  con¬ 
sciousness  of  our  own  weakness  is  in  reality  a 
source  of  strength.  Paul  said  that  when  he  was 
weak  then  he  was  strong,  and  that  out  of  weakness 
he  was  made  strong.  Self-strength  is  real  weak¬ 
ness  ;  and  acknowledged  weakness,  coupled  with 
God,  is  strength. 

Again,  trials  develop  our  graces,  causing  them 
to  shine  all  the  more  brightly.  Temptations  to 
doubt,  resisted  in  the  Spirit,  increase  faith;  temp¬ 
tations  to  hatred,  successfully  resisted,  increase 
love ;  and  temptations  to  depression  and  discourage¬ 
ment,  bring  joy  and  peace.  Fire  destroys  dross  but 
purifies  gold.  The  fires  of  temptation  and  spiritual 


56  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


sorrow  reveal  and  drive  out  sin,  but  cause  grace  to 
increase. 

The  trial  of  our  faith  makes  us  more  like  Jesus. 
God  chastens  us  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  His 
holiness.  When  we  are  tried  we  shall  come  forth 
as  gold.  No  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to 
be  joyous  but  grievous,  but  afterward  it  yieldeth 
the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  unto  them 
which  are  exercised  thereby. 

The  trial  of  our  faith  is  more  precious  than  gold, 
for  gold  perishes,  but  faith  endures ;  gold  is  earthly, 
but  faith  is  heavenly;  gold  will  purchase  earthly 
good,  but  through  faith  are  we  saved. 

At  one  time  men  would  have  scoffed  the  idea  that 
gold  perishes,  but  it  has  been  proven  that  the  action 
of  certain  chemicals  will  destroy  it.  But  that  trial 
or  fiery  ordeal  has  never  been  invented  and  never 
will  be  invented  that  can  overcome  faith.  All 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth. 

Trials,  borne  in  the  Spirit,  have  a  strong  ten¬ 
dency  to  blacken  and  mar  all  the  trifling  and  allur¬ 
ing  joys  of  earth,  and  to  bring  out  in  strong  relief 
the  joys  of  a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  the  de¬ 
sirableness  of  a  heavenly  home,  but  most  of  all  they 
produce  a  yearning  after  Christ  and  a  melting  into 
His  love. 

Looking  at  matters  from  this  true  point  of  view, 
why  should  we  murmur?  God’s  best  saints  have 
often  been  called  upon  to  endure  the  greatest  af¬ 
flictions.  Even  so,  lions’  dens,  fiery  furnaces  and 


THE  TRIAL  OF  OUR  FAITH 


57 


foul  dungeons  could  not  alter  their  determination 
nor  cause  them  to  complain.  “  Even  Christ  pleased 
not  Himself.” 

“  The  sweetest  flower  that  Bethlehem  e’er  saw  bloom, 
Forth  from  a  heart  all  filled  with  wondrous  grace, 

Shed  never  forth  its  richness  of  perfume 
Till  Calvary’s  cross  upheld  it  in  its  vase.” 

0  Christ,  when  shall  I  see  Thee  ?  When  shall 
my  weary  eyes  rest  in  the  full  vision  of  Thee — 
when  shall  they  see  Jesus  only?  When  shall  my 
lips  speak  only  of  Thee  and  with  Thee  ?  When 
shall  my  ears,  so  tired  of  the  discordant  notes  of 
earth’s  minors  and  subtones,  hear  the  music  of  Thy 
voice  ?  When  shall  my  heart,  so  long  rent  and  torn 
with  warring  passions  or  fierce  temptations,  rest 
like  a  dove  in  the  bosom  of  Thy  divinity? 

Dost  Thou  answer  that  these  shall  come  when 
my  warfare  is  accomplished  and  my  labour  passed  ? 
Then  I  will  welcome  warfare,  that  I  may  shout  the 
victory  in  Thee ;  I  will  hail  every  labour  with  glad¬ 
ness  for  each  stroke  helps  to  fill  the  measure  of  my 
task;  I  will  lift  every  burden,  for  each  burden 
passed  brings  me  nearer  the  eternal  weight  of 
glory. 

Lord,  to  what  shall  I  liken  Thee-,  as,  arising  from 
the  furnace  of  my  trials,  I  behold  Thee,  even  here, 
by  faith  ?  Thou  art  the  Lily  of  the  Y alley,  the 
Bright  and  Morning  Star;  Thou  art  the  fairest 
among  ten  thousand,  yea,  Thou  art  altogether 
lovely.  As  the  Lily  among  thorns,  as  the  Lamb 
among  lions,  as  the  Sun  after  midnight,  as  Joy 


58 


THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


after  the  utmost  sorrow,  as  All  Things  Good  and 
Lovely  after  all  things  evil  and  unlovely,  so  art 
Thou  in  comparison  to  all  things  beside. 

Rutherford  says :  “  Oh !  if  ye  knew  Him,  and 
saw  His  beauty — your  love,  your  heart,  your  de¬ 
sires  would  close  with  Him,  and  cleave  to  Him. 
Love,  by  nature,  when  it  seeth,  cannot  hut  cast  out 
its  spirit  and  strength  upon  amiable  objects,  and 
good  things,  and  things  love  worthy ;  and  what  fairer 
thing  than  Christ  ?  0  fair  sun,  and  fair  moon,  and 
fair  stars,  and  fair  flowers,  and  fair  roses,  and  fair 
lilies,  and  fair  creatures ;  but  O  ten  thousand  times 
fairer  Lord  Jesus !  Alas,  I  wronged  Him  in  mak¬ 
ing  the  comparison  this  way!  0  black  sun  and 
moon,  but  0  fair  Lord  Jesus !  0  black  flowers,  and 
black  lilies  and  roses,  but  0  fair,  fair,  ever  fair 
Lord  Jesus!  0  all  fair  things,  black  and  deformed 
without  beauty,  when  ye  are  beside  that  fairest 
Lord  Jesus!  0  black  heaven,  but  0  fair  Christ! 
0  black  angels,  but  surpassingly  fair  Lord  Jesus! 
I  would  seek  no  more  to  make  me  happy  evermore 
but  a  thorough  and  clear  sight  of  the  beauty  of 
Jesus,  my  Lord.  Let  my  eyes  enjoy  His  fairness, 
and  stare  Him  forever  in  the  face,  and  I  have  all 
that  can  be  wished.” 

For  six  thousand  years  death,  the  supreme  terror 
of  the  world,  has  triumphed.  Since  erring  Adam 
and  Eve  knelt,  weeping,  by  the  body  of  their  right¬ 
eous  but  murdered  son,  men  have  ever  wept  at  the 
tombs  of  their  beloved  dead.  Death  stalks  trium- 


THE  TRIAL  OF  OUR  FAITH 


59 


pbant  over  tlie  battle-field,  gloating  as  a  vulture  on 
the  carcasses  of  the  slain.  Death  shrieks  weirdly 
in  the  storm,  it  roars  and  rumbles  in  the  earth¬ 
quake,  it  stealthily  lurks  in  famine  and  pestilence. 
Death  is  a  heartless  monster.  !No  heart,  no  saint, 
is  immune  to  the  sorrow  he  brings.  He  seizes  the 
infant  or  the  sage,  the  poor  or  the  rich,  the  wise  or 
the  unwise.  He  wrings  the  heart  with  sorrow, 
seizes  our  brightest  flowers,  or  steals  away  the  prop 
of  youth  or  age.  He  tolls  the  funeral  dirge,  digs 
the  grave  and  ruthlessly  destroys  the  home. 

But  Christ,  at  His  appearing,  will  destroy  death. 
Then  captivity  will  be  led  captive,  then  death  will 
be  conquered,  and  life,  full,  joyous,  and  eternal, 
shall  take  the  scepter  of  power.  Till  then  be  pa¬ 
tient,  be  true,  endure,  and  your  joys  shall  never 
end. 


It  must  needs  be, 

In  this  dark  world,  this  world  of  sin  and  shame, 
That  faith  be  tried. 

As  gold,  which  fire  destroyeth  not, 

But  purifies  from  dross,  so  faith, 

Triumphant  in  the  fires  of  pain, 

Decreaseth  not,  and  faileth  not  in  power. 

From  strength  to  strength  it  goes. 

On  eagle’s  wings  it  soars,  exulting  o’er  the  foe. 
Fleet  as  the  bounding  hart,  faith  wearies  not, 
Nor  faints  when  burdened  sore  with  care. 

Christ  shall  appear. 

Then  faith,  forth  from  the  furnace  called, 
Before  the  throne  shall  stand 
And  by  the  King  be  praised; 

And,  as  the  universe  beholds, 

Christ  shall  its  honour  show; 

And  o’er  the  soul,  like  oil  o’er  Aaron’s  beard, 
Glory  and  joy,  celestial  joy,  shall  flow, 

And  to  eternity  endure. 


VIII 


JOY  UNSPEAKABLE 

“  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love;  in  whom,  though  now 
ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeak¬ 
able  and  full  of  glory ;  receiving  the  end  of  your  faith,  even 
the  salvation  of  your  souls  ”• — I  Peter  1:8,  9. 

FOR  Peter  to  see  Jesus,  was  to  love  Him,  to 
love  Him  was  to  worship  Him,  and  to 
worship  Jesus  was  to  forsake  all  and  follow 
Him.  From  that  time  Peter  became  a  fisher  of 
men.  A  proof  of  his  apostleship  was  the  fact  that 
he  had  seen  Jesus.  Jesus  pronounced  a  blessing  on 
Thomas  because  he  believed  when  he  had  seen,  hut 
a  greater  blessing  on  the  one  who  should  believe 
without  seeing. 

Allow  me  to  venture  the  statement  that  never  a 
truer  heart  beat  than  the  heart  of  the  impetuous 
Peter.  He  loved  his  Master.  When  they  walked 
together  along  the  dusty  highway,  or  sat  by  the  sea¬ 
side,  he  hung  on  His  every  word,  and  made  the  dis¬ 
covery  that  Jesus  only  had  the  words  of  eternal 
life.  He  loved  Jesus  when  his  eyes  beheld  Him, 
he  loved  Him  more  when  He  left.  As  far  as  we 
can  discover,  Peter  never  allowed  a  doubt  concern¬ 
ing  the  power  of  his  Master  to  work  all  miracles, 

and  after  he  was  left  alone,  by  the  power  of  this 

60 


JOY  UNSPEAKABLE 


61 


Christ,  lie  himself  healed  the  sick  and  raised  the 
dead. 

Impetuous  love,  implicit  faith,  tumultuous  joy 
— a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  were  char¬ 
acteristic  of  this  fisherman  disciple. 

“  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love.”  Can  any  per¬ 
son  be  found  who  loves  Napoleon,  or  Alexander,  or 
Caesar  ?  Can  Plato,  or  Aristotle,  or  Pythagoras 
boast  of  enthralling  the  affections  of  any  person  of 
the  twentieth  century  ?  More  than  this,  do  the 
disciples  of  Mohammed,  or  Confucius,  or  Buddha 
follow  their  leaders  through  love  or  through  fear 
and  frenzied  fanaticism?  There  is  no  real  love 
where  the  cross  is  not  known.  “  We  love  Him  be¬ 
cause  He  first  loved  us.” 

Christ  is  not  dead,  but  liveth  forevermore.  He 
lives  to-day  in  the  love  of  His  followers  as  truly  as 
when  men  saw  Him  face  to  face.  Men  will  give 
their  lives  for  Him,  not  because  of  some  promised 
sensual  reward  in  the  world  to  come,  but  because 
they  love  Him  and  would  glorify  His  name.  How 
worthy  is  Jesus  Christ  of  the  best  affections  of  our 
hearts,  and  how  poor,  in  comparison,  is  the  love 
we  give ! 

“  Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine, 

That  were  a  present  far  too  small: 

Love  so  amazing,  so  divine, 

Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all.” 

Man  is  so  constituted  that  his  affections  must  be 
centered  on  some  being  or  thing.  Different  men 


62  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


have  different  treasures,  hut  wherever  these  treas¬ 
ures  may  he,  there  is  the  heart.  Some  love  money, 
some  love  houses  and  lands,  some  their  homes, 
others  pleasure  and  rioting.  How  far  beneath  the 
immortal  dignity  of  man  are  all  these!  To  love 
God,  and  all  other  lovely  things  in  God,  is  the 
highest  center  of  the  affections.  Augustine  says, 
“  For  he  loves  thee  too  little  who  loves  aught  with 
thee,  which  he  loves  not  for  thee,  0  love,  who  ever 
hurnest,  and  art  never  quenched!  0  charity,  my 
God,  kindle  me !  ” 

“  In  whom,  though  now  ye  see  Him  not,  yet  be¬ 
lieving.”  Faith  is  not  faith  unless  it  is  operative 
in  the  dark.  That  person  who  must  have  signs  and 
wonders  to  inspire  faith,  is  a  whole-souled  unbe¬ 
liever;  that  person  whose  confidence  in  God  flags 
in  danger  or  disappointment,  has  need  of  strength 
from  on  high ;  and  that  person  who  must  have  gifts, 
blessings  or  revelations  to  produce  faith  and  obedi¬ 
ence,  is  following  Jesus  for  the  loaves  and  fishes. 
True  faith  is  not  in  things,  but  in  Christ. 

A  love  that  grows  cold,  or  in  the  least  degree 
seeks  another  center,  when  absent  from  the  person 
of  its  affections,  is  at  best  a  poor  love.  Genuine 
love  increases  with  distance,  and  glows  more 
warmly  as  the  days  go  by.  True  love  cannot  be 
dampened  by  trials  and  burdens.  If  your  love  for 
God  grows  cold  and  amid  trials,  temptations,  perse¬ 
cutions,  misunderstandings,  sickness,  or  any  other 


JOY  UNSPEAKABLE  63 

thing,  there  is  an  icy  center,  carnality,  that  should 
he  removed. 

God  is  anxious  that  we  should  love  Him  when 
most  invisible;  He  desires  that  we  should  lean  on 
Him  when  He  is  not  to  be  seen ;  to  trust  Him  that 
He  will  fit  us  for  our  burdens  and  our  burdens  for 
us.  Mocking  trials  and  bitter  tears  should  not  cool 
the  ardour  of  our  love.  God  loves  and  cares  for  us 
whatever  the  circumstances. 

“  Ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory.”  Note  the  fact  that  no  man  is  called  upon 
to  rejoice  in  a  shadow,  or  in  an  untruth.  Faith  is 
not  accepting  an  untruth  with  such  determination 
that  it  becomes  a  truth,  real  faith  touches  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  Founded  on  Christ,  really 
and  consciously,  the  believer  must  rejoice.  “  Let 
the  inhabitants  of  the  rock  sing,  let  them  shout 
from  the  tops  of  the  mountains.” 

The  apostle  tries  to  express  the  extent  of  the 
Christian’s  exultation.  Joy  is  defined  as  a  lively 
emotion  of  happiness.  But  the  world  has  all  this. 
Can  the  Christian  have  no  more?  In  answer  the 
Galilean  disciple  doubles  up  the  expression,  and  de¬ 
clares  that  we  “  rejoice  with  joy.”  This  expresses 
a  genuine  emotion  of  happiness,  springing  up,  not 
grudgingly  or  by  force,  but  spontaneously,  from  the 
depths  of  the  soul.  This  is  a  rejoicing  that  has  a 
fountain  of  joy  from  which  it  springs.  Some  re¬ 
joicing  is  only  on  the  surface,  and  beneath  is  a  deep 
current  of  discontent  and  unrest.  But  this  is  not 


64  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


so.  Well  done,  Peter.  But  let  me  ask,  “  Does  not 
the  world  have  all  this?  Does  not  the  mother  for¬ 
get  her  anguish  when  from  the  depths  of  her 
mother  heart  springs  an  unbidden  stream,  a  stream 
of  rejoicing  because  of  the  beautiful  infant  son  who 
for  the  first  time  is  placed  in  her  arms  and  nestles 
up  to  her  bosom?  ”  This  is  not  imaginary  joy,  it 
is  real.  Does  this  duplicate  the  Christian’s  privi¬ 
lege  ?  Let  us  hear  from  Peter  again. 

“  Ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable.”  Wonder¬ 
ful  !  This  begins  to  account  for  some  of  the  strange 
scenes  we  sometimes  see.  Men  and  women  clap¬ 
ping  their  hands,  laughing,  weeping,  shouting,  run¬ 
ning,  jumping,  and  other  like  manifestations.  They 
have  a  joy  that  is  unspeakable,  it  is  inexpressible, 
and  when  they  have  done  their  best  they  all  declare, 
“  The  half  has  never  yet  been  told.”  But  can  not 
the  world  duplicate  this?  Peter,  did  you  ever  at¬ 
tend  the  forum  and  witness  there  the  indescribable 
scenes  of  inexpressible  joy  when  the  favourite 
charioteer  gained  the  day,  or  when  the  footman 
who  was  the  idol  of  the  people  finished  first?  If 
you  never  saw  those  things,  or  parallel  events,  it 
might  be  well  to  go  to  the  modern  baseball  or  foot¬ 
ball  game,  or  the  political  convention,  or  a  dozen 
other  events  of  every-day  occurrence.  We  would 
be  glad,  Peter,  if  you  would  give  us  a  promise  that 
our  joy  would  excel  that  of  all  these.  Will  you  try 
again  ? 

And  he  does.  This  time  he  introduces  an  ele- 


JOY  UNSPEAKABLE 


65 


ment  which  this  world  does  not  possess.  He  goes 
to  headquarters,  the  source  from  which  spiritual 
possibilities  emanate,  and  lays  hold  on  a  principle 
that  grows  or  is  produced  only  there,  and  carrying 
it  hack  exultingly,  he  takes  the  hitherto  empty 
pitcher  of  earthly  joy,  and  crowds  it  full,  yea,  he 
presses  it  down,  he  shakes  it  together,  he  runs  it 
over,  he  fills  this  unspeakable  joy  with  glory.  Do 
you  know  what  he  means  ?  Thrice  blessed  soul, 
thou  art  favoured  of  God !  Is  there  a  vagueness  in 
the  idea  of  glory  that  is  painful?  Then  ask  God 
to  give  you  to  understand;  and,  better  yet,  to  pos¬ 
sess  His  glory. 

I  confess  my  inability  to  express  in  words  the 
meaning  of  the  apostle,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to 
confess  my  inability  to  understand  and  to  possess 
that  of  which  he  speaks.  What  is  glory?  I  an¬ 
swer,  its  definition  can  be  known  only  by  those  who 
possess  it?  It  is  like  the  white  stone  in  which  a 
new  name  is  written  that  no  man  knoweth  save  him 
that  receiveth  it. 

There  is  an  eternal  variety  in  this  glory-filled, 
heavenly  joy  that  manifests  itself  in  ever-varying, 
ever-changing,  ever-new  unfoldings  and  startling, 
but  rapturous,  revelations. 

The  glory  of  the  saint  of  God  here  is  the  same 
in  principle  as  the  glory  of  heaven.  The  only  dif¬ 
ference  is  in  the  quantity  and  in  the  surroundings. 
The  glory  here  is  an  earnest,  a  foretaste,  a  forfeit 
of  the  glory  of  the  upper  world.  It  is  a  sample 


66  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


given  to  us  here,  liberally  and  without  measure,  it 
is  true,  that  we  may  know  something  of  what  God 
has  in  store  for  us  and  press  forward,  even  though 
the  battle  is  fierce  or  the  duties  tiresome.  But 
when  the  full  fruition  is  given,  when  faith  is  lost 
in  sight,  when  earth  gives  way  for  heaven,  when 
sorrows  fade,  when  tears  cease,  when  groans  die  for¬ 
ever  from  our  lips,  when  our  hearts  sense  the  things 
that  are  prepared,  when  the  feet  of  the  glory-laden 
soul  strike  the  streets  of  the  celestial  glory,  and  it 
feels  the  throbs  and  pulsations  of  the  joys  of 
heaven,  and  joins  in  the  anthems  of  saints  and  an¬ 
gels,  then,  and  not  till  then,  it  has  received  to  its 
full  extent,  but  ever  to  increase,  “  the  end  of  faith, 
even  the  salvation  of  the  soul.” 


IX 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  REDEMPTION 


“  Of  which  salvation  the  prophets  enquired  and  searched 
diligently,  who  prophesied  of  the  grace  that  should  come 
unto  you:  searching  what,  or  ichat  manner  of  time  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  which  teas  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified 
beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should 
follow.  Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that  not  unto  them* 
selves,  but  unto  us  they  did  minister  the  things,  which  are 
now  reported  unto  us  by  them  that  have  preached  the  gospel 
unto  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven;  which 
things  the  angels  desire  to  look  into.” — I  Peter  1:  10-12. 

THE  all-consuming  theme  of  prophecy,  from 
Genesis  to  Malachi,  from  the  garden  to 
the  end  of  Old  Testament  times,  was  “  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  fol¬ 
low.”  He  was  prefigured  in  the  beast  slain  to 
clothe  our  sinful  first  parents,  in  the  sacrifice  of 
Abel,  in  the  ark  of  Noah,  in  the  offering  up  of 
Isaac,  in  the  scarlet  thread  of  Rahab,  in  the  altar, 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  slain  beasts  and  birds, 
and  even  in  the  lives  of  such  men  as  Moses,  Joshua, 
Samson,  and  David. 

What  a  glorious  privilege  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
our  fisherman  disciple  to  stand  in  the  midst  of  the 
wondering  throng  at  Pentecost  and,  for  the  first 
time,  to  proclaim  to  them,  in  no  uncertain  lan¬ 
guage,  that  the  man  they  had  crucified  was  the  Mes¬ 
siah,  the  Prophet,  the  Promised  of  the  Father. 

67 


68  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


And  how  good  of  the  Lord  to  choose  Peter  for  the 
spokesman!  Poor  Peter’s  heart  was  crushed.  He 
had  denied  his  Lord.  He  had  denied  him  with  an 
oath.  Bitter  tears  had  been  wrung  from  his  eyes. 
But  now  he  is  given  the  opportunity  to  in  some 
sense  atone  for  his  failure,  and,  Peter-like,  he  is 
not  slow  in  improving  the  occasion.  Standing 
boldly  before  the  very  people,  who  had  heard  his 
denial,  he  proclaimed  that  He  whom  they  had 
crucified  was  the  Christ. 

Did  you  ever  say  something  to  your  best  friend 
that  you  were  sure  had  caused  his  heart  to  bleed; 
and  did  you  ever  note  the  thrill  of  joy  when  in 
some  way  you  were  permitted  to  set  the  matter 
right,  or  to  prove  by  some  self-denial  the  kindly 
feelings  of  your  heart?  If  so,  you  can  appreciate 
the  feelings  of  Peter  on  this  memorable  day.  Noth¬ 
ing  but  blood  can  wash  away  sin,  but  loyalty  satis¬ 
fies  and  soothes  an  injured  conscience. 

The  prophets  foresaw  that  a  great  blessing  was 
kept  in  store  for  a  future  generation.  They  saw 
that  this  blessing  had  to  do  with  salvation  and  the 
grace  of  God.  They  had  realized  in  their  own 
hearts  enough  of  this  grace  to  cause  them  to  desire 
a  deeper  view. 

As  a  consequence  they  searched  diligently  to  find 
out  what  it  was  to  be,  when  it  was  to  be  given,  and 
the  manner  of  times  in  which  it  should  come.  The 
figure  is  of  a  person  examining  closely  to  catch  the 
most  minute  details,  bringing  the  page  nearer  the 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  REDEMPTION  69 


eyes,  stooping  down  as  in  examining  ores  in  which 
precious  metals  are  contained.  This  close  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  task  of  searching  the  secrets  of  the  Al¬ 
mighty  is  no  doubt  represented  in  the  stooping,  in¬ 
quiring  attitude  of  the  cherubim  over  the  mercy 
seat.  “  Angels  desire  to  look  into  ”  the  secrets  of 
God’s  grace  and  mercy  to  wayward  men. 

Oh,  the  rich  blessings,  the  marvelous  revelations 
that  are  forfeited  by  the  carelessness  of  our  search. 
Look  closer.  Stoop  down.  Break  through  any  in¬ 
difference  that  may  remain,  and  come  boldly  to  a 
throne  of  grace,  and  you  shall  obtain  mercy  and 
find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need.  There  is  no 
wall  between,  the  way  into  the  holiest  is  open 
to  all. 

While  the  prophets  were  not  rewarded  with  a  full 
vision  of  these  blessings,  yet  they  obtained  enough 
of  the  “  earnest  ”  to  keep  them  longing  and  won¬ 
dering.  They  knew  God,  they  knew  the  power  of 
grace,  they  knew  the  blessings  of  grace;  but  they 
were  convinced  that  they  had  not  received  of  the 
fulness  as  it  should  be  given  to  future  genera¬ 
tions. 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  draw  the  distinction  in 
the  religious  experiences  of  the  two  dispensations, 
suffice  to  know  that  grace  in  its  dispensational  ful¬ 
ness  was  for  Enoch,  for  Noah,  for  Abraham,  for 
David,  for  the  prophets  and  for  John  the  Baptist 
as  well  as  for  Peter,  James  and  John. 

To  shut  out  everyone  from  the  blessings  of  the 


70  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


redemption  of  Christ  until  this  redemption  should 
he  consummated  would  he  to  cast  a  suspicion  upon 
Christ  by  the  covert  insinuation  that  there  was  in 
the  mind  of  the  Father  a  lingering  doubt  as  to  the 
sufficiency  of  His  Son  to  meet  the  issue  and  bring 
salvation. 

Oh,  the  glory  of  a  vision  of  Christ !  Bach 
through  the  ages  my  soul  peers,  it  looks  closely,  it 
stoops  down,  it  searches.  Great  men  are  there. 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  there  in  his  Babylonian  glory; 
Alexander  weeping  for  another  world  to  conquer; 
Caesar,  statesman,  author,  soldier,  at  the  head  of 
the  Roman  legions;  Constantine  marching  to  vic¬ 
tory  under  the  Christian  labarum;  Polycarp,  the 
aged,  dying  for  the  man  he  could  not  deny ;  Luther 
putting  to  flight  the  minions  of  Romanism;  John 
Wesley  with  his  Spirit-filled  followers.  Some  of 
the  persons  I  see  are  beautiful,  some  are  repulsive. 
But  amid  the  throng  there  shines  the  face  of  One 
whose  countenance  is  more  marred  than  any  seen; 
He  hangs  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  bleed¬ 
ing,  groaning,  dying.  With  the  prophet  I  exclaim, 
“  Who  is  this  ?  ”  The  answer  returns,  “  This  is 
the  Man  who  died  for  thee.”  Thank  God  for  a 
mother,  a  Sunday-school  teacher,  a  preacher,  a 
Bible  which  told  me  the  old,  old  story,  which  so  imj 
pressed  it  on  the  scrolls  of  my  childish  mind  that 
its  memory  shall  never  be  effaced.  He  died  that  I 
might  live. 

If  such  a  vision,  looking  backwards,  is  glorious, 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  REDEMPTION  71 


why  should  not  a  forward  vision  be  glorious  ? 
When  Abraham  saw  the  day  of  the  Son  of  Man,  he 
became  the  “  friend  of  God  ” :  when  Moses  got  a 
vision  of  the  Prophet  like  unto  himself,  he  forsook 
the  throne,  the  glories,  the  riches  of  Egypt,  esteem¬ 
ing  even  the  reproach  of  Christ  much  to  be  pre¬ 
ferred.  When  David’s  harp  learned  to  sound  the 
praises  of  the  Lord’s  Anointed,  he  could  say,  “  We 
will  rejoice  in  Thy  salvation,  and  in  the  name  of 
God  we  will  set  up  our  banners.”  When  Isaiah 
saw  the  vision  he  said,  “  He  was  wounded  for  our 
transgressions,  He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities: 
the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him;  and 
with  His  stripes  we  are  healed.”  Read  the  whole 
wonderful  story  in  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah. 
He  was  despised,  He  sorrowed,  He  was  rejected, 
He  was  afflicted,  He  travailed,  He  died. 

“  Stay,  let  me  weep  while  you  whisper, 

‘  Love  paid  the  ransom  for  me.’  ” 

Such  was  the  “  forward  ”  vision  the  prophets 
caught  of  Him  who  spoke  in  righteousness,  the 
Mighty  to  save. 

But  these  are  not  all  who  desire  to  fathom  the 
mysteries  of  redemption.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
cherubim  overshadowing  the  mercy  seat  are  in¬ 
tently  looking  that  they  may  understand  the  mercy 
and  grace  of  God.  Although  they  cannot  fathom 
yet  they  believe  and  are  glad  to  do  all  they  can  to 
further  the  plan,  even  now  angels  are  hovering 


72  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


around  to  carry  back  to  heaven  the  tidings  of  a 
prodigal’s  return,  ministering  spirits  linger  with 
every  saint  of  God  to  assist  him  in  his  journey  to 
the  skies,  and  if  we  are  true  to  the  end,  on  pinions 
that  outfly  the  lightnings,  they  will  carry  us  to  a 
land  of  rest. 

But  angels  can  never  tell  the  mysteries  of  re- 
demption,  they  can  never  know  the  sweet  pulsations 
of  that  joy  divine  which  a  prodigal  feels  when  he 
first  reaches  home.  There  is  much  meaning  in  the 
expression  we  so  often  hear,  “  I  would  sooner  be  a 
redeemed  soul  than  an  archangel.” 

Some  spend  their  lives  bewailing  their  past  sins. 
Why  should  this  be  so  ?  True,  my  sins  made  the 
blood  of  Christ  a  necessity,  but,  while  sin  is  an 
awful  thing,  yet,  because  of  sin,  I  have  a  part  in 
Jesus  Christ.  Without  blood  I  could  never  be  re¬ 
deemed,  but  had  I  never  sinned  I  could  have  no 
part  in  the  Saviour.  I  did  bewail  my  sins  once, 
for,  unconfessed  and  unforsaken,  they  separated 
me  from  God,  but  when  the  blood  reached  my  soul 
I  ceased  to  mourn,  and  the  joy  of  the  Lord  wipes 
out  the  memories  and  sorrows  of  the  past.  Thank 
God! 

Again,  what  a  glorious  privilege  to  preach  the 
gospel  “  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
heaven !  ”  “  The  morning  stars  sang  together  and 

all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ”  when  God 
“  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth.”  When  Zerub- 
babel  laid  the  foundations  of  the  second  temple,  the 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  REDEMPTION  73 


people  wept  and  shouted  until  the  noise  of  the 
weeping  could  not  he  distinguished  from  the  noise 
of  the  shouting. 

But  there  is  a  greater  privilege.  God  is  hewing 
out  of  the  granite  quarries  of  this  world  living 
stones  with  which  to  build  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit.  The  building  is  laid  on  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  and  He 
shall  bring  forth  the  headstone  thereof  (Jesus 
Christ)  with  shoutings,  crying,  “  Grace,  grace  unto 
it.”  He  gives  me  the  opportunity  to  work  in  His 
quarries,  to  fit  stones  for  their  place  in  the  temple. 
He  allows  me  to  work  with  Him  for  the  salvation 
pf  a  lost  world ! 

God  has  a  harvest  field,  the  world,  in  which  there 
is  work  to  do.  I  may  not  be  able  to  work  with  the 
young  men  in  bringing  in  the  sheaves,  but,  like 
Ruth,  I  can  glean  in  a  humble  place,  and  be  re¬ 
warded  with  handfuls  of  grain.  But  when  mealtime 
comes  I  can  sit  down  with  the  reapers,  Wesley, 
Bramwell,  Finney,  Luther,  I  can  eat  of  their  bread 
and  dip  my  morsel  in  their  vinegar,  and  rejoice. 
And  in  the  end,  while  I  may  not  receive  a  reaper’s 
pay,  I  can  hear  God’s  “  Well  done  ”  and  be  united 
with  my  heavenly  Boaz,  Jesus  Christ,  world  with- 
put  end. 


X 


KEEPING  THE  HEART 

“  Wherefore  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  he  sober,  and 
hope  to  the  end  for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you 
at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ — I  Peter  1:13. 

IT  means  much  to  be  patient.  There  is  so  much 
to  he  done  and  so  many  hindrances ;  the  pains 
are  so  severe  and  so  persistent  that  it  seems 
they  never  will  depart ;  the  misunderstandings  seem 
so  unreasonable  that  they  are  actually  vexing;  the 
crosses  are  so  heavy,  so  bloody,  so  agonizing,  the 
confinements  so  galling!  If  we  could  only  wrench 
these  bars  away,  lay  down  these  crosses,  explain 
these  misunderstandings,  relieve  these  pains  or 
drive  through  these  hindrances,  all  would  he  well. 
But  no,  the  prejudices  refuse  to  depart,  the  walls 
are  firm. 

Nothing  but  grace  could  enable  Peter  to  endure. 
He  must  have  his  liberty.  God  recognized  this  fact, 
and  when  he  was  in  prison  sent  an  angel  to  help 
him  out.  But  this  impulsive  nature,  all  right  when 
sanctified,  must  he  curbed  or  ruin  will  follow.  In 
this  passage  Peter  is  wielding  the  two-edged  sword, 
it  strikes  both  the  reader  and  the  writer.  Peter, 
himself,  must  learn  to  patienly  “  hope  to  the 
end.” 


74 


KEEPING  THE  HEART 


75 


By  tlie  way,  did  Peter  ever  take  time  to  sit  down 
and  think  anything  out  ?  Did  he  ever  study  out  a 
sermon  or  a  course  of  action  ?  Read  his  epistles 
and  see  how  he  sweeps  you  irresistibly,  not  hv  force 
of  argument,  hut  by  a  strong  impulse,  from  valley 
to  hilltop,  from  one  mountain  peak  to  another, 
never  tarrying  at  any  one  place  only  long  enough 
to  drive  one  sure  nail  and  then  on.  His  inspira¬ 
tion  hears  the  stamp  of  action,  not  of  study.  It 
savours  of  the  freedom  of  the  seaside,  the  rolling 
of  the  tempest,  the  sunshine  and  shadows,  the  joys 
of  the  successes  and  the  sorrows  of  the  failures  of 
a  Galilean  fisherman,  and  not  of  the  schools. 

John  loved  to  sit  at  Jesus’  feet  or  recline  on  His 
breast ;  he  must  learn  to  labour  in  the  great  harvest 
field;  Peter,  already  filled  with  action,  must  learn 
to  sit  at  Jesus’  feet.  How  blessed  to  live  constantly 
in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  to  be  ever  drinking  in  of 
the  fulness  of  the  Spirit.  Brother  Lawrence  says, 
“  The  time  of  business  does  not  with  me  differ  from 
the  time  of  prayer,  and  in  the  noise  and  clatter  of 
my  kitchen,  while  several  persons  are  at  the  same 
time  calling  for  different  things,  I  possess  God  in 
as  great  tranquillity  as  if  I  were  upon  my  knees 
at  the  blessed  sacrament.” 

The  Christian  man’s  main  work  is  stated  thus  by 
the  wise  man :  “  Keep  thine  heart  with  all  dili¬ 
gence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.”  Care¬ 
fulness,  sobriety  and  hopefulness  are  three  things 


76  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


necessary  in  keeping  the  heart,  and  these  three 
things  are  mentioned  in  the  passage  before  ns. 

Cakefulness.  “  Gird  up  the  loins  of  your 
mind.”  The  mind  and  affections  of  man,  fallen  in 
the  general  wreck,  are  inclined  to  looseness.  They 
love  to  linger  in  forbidden  fields  and  ponder  over 
unholy  ends,  and  are  loath  to  give  careful  attention 
to  solid  things,  especially  the  things  of  God.  How 
easy  for  the  natural  man  to  retain  the  memory  of 
foolish  stories  or  circumstances,  and  with  difficulty 
he  retains  solid  matter.  This  weakness  is  aug¬ 
mented  by  the  influence  of  chaffy,  sentimental  lit¬ 
erature,  classical  or  otherwise.  Who  can  prove  this 
allegation  untrue? 

What  unregenerated  man  is  capable  of  so  con¬ 
trolling  his  affections  that  he  can  say,  “  My  heart 
is  fixed.”  On  the  contrary,  his  affections  are  con¬ 
tinually  changing,  unstable  as  water,  like  the 
troubled  sea  when  it  cannot  rest. 

But  if  the  “  loins  of  the  mind  ”  are  girded  up 
the  subjects  for  thought  will  be  carefully  chosen, 
the  affections  will  be  studiously  fixed  in  God  and 
heavenly  things,  and  the  whole  man  will  be  watch¬ 
ful  and  at  attention. 

The  figure  of  the  text  represents  readiness. 
When  the  prophet’s  lips  had  been  touched  with  the 
live  coal  and  his  sin  purged,  he  could  quickly  reply 
to  the  call  to  service,  “  Here  am  I,  send  me.”  If 
the  mind  is  dissolutely  dragging  against  the  things 
of  time  and  dabbling  into  the  dirty  pool  of  worldly 


KEEPING  THE  HEART 


77 


cares  and  riches,  how  can  one  quickly  leave  all  to 
answer  the  call  to  service  ?  God  wants  minute  men. 
He  wants  men  who  sleep  on  their  arms  with  their 
coats  on,  while  they  are  in  the  enemy’s  country. 
He  wants  men  who  can  never  be  caught  ungirded. 

Then,  again,  the  girded  mind  is  prompt  and  ex¬ 
peditious.  It  cares  for  details,  but  wastes  no  time 
with  trifles.  Generally,  if  you  want  a  rush  job 
done  employ  a  busy  man,  for  very  often  the  other 
man  is  unoccupied  because  of  his  slowness  and  in¬ 
efficiency.  Talents  are  given  the  servants  of  God 
to  be  used,  but  if  any  man  has  not  (does  not  use 
to  profit  that  which  he  has),  from  him  shall  be 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  has,  and  this  that 
is  taken  away  shall  be  given  to  the  man  who  al¬ 
ready  has  ten  talents,  and  improves  them. 

The  girded  mind  is,  as  far  as  possible,  disen¬ 
gaged  from  worldly  things  and  pursuits.  No  man 
that  warreth  entangleth  himself  with  the  affairs  of 
this  world,  that  he  may  please  him  who  has  chosen 
him  to  be  a  soldier.  How  any  man  whose  head  is 
full  of  worldly  business  and  plans  can  make  a  suc¬ 
cessful  soul-saver  or  even  private  Christian — is  a 
question  worthy  of  consideration.  A  heart  that  is 
only  partly  surrendered  to  God  is  all  the  devil’s; 
lukewarmness  is  an  abomination,  sickening  to  the 
Lord. 

A  mind  that  is  girded,  by  that  very  fact  mani¬ 
fests  a  determination  that  is  pleasing  to  God.  No 
man  would  run  a  race  of  any  importance  hampered 


78  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


with  superfluous  clothing,  but  if  he  enters  the  lists 
stripped  for  action  he  shows  his  determination  to 
either  win  or  make  the  attempt.  Determination 
is  half  the  battle.  Many  an  engagement  has  been 
lost  because  of  a  lack  of  purpose. 

“  We  want  no  cowards  in  our  band 
Who  will  their  colours  fly; 

We  call  for  valiant-hearted  men 
Who  are  not  afraid  to  die.” 

A  girded  mind  is  a  strong  mind.  It  rejoiceth 
as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race.  Dangers  and  diffi¬ 
culties  grow  insignificant  to  the  one  who  dares. 
Such  an  one 

“  *  *  *  asks  impossibilities, 

Impossibilities  are  given.” 

Weakness  is  manifested  by  languor  and  inaction; 
strength  produces  alertness  and  activity.  Can  you 
not  divide  the  weak  Christians  of  your  acquaint¬ 
ance  from  the  strong  by  this  rule  ? 

Finally,  a  girded  mind  is  a  holy  mind.  Separa¬ 
tion,  consecration,  devotion,  trueness  to  purpose, 
purity,  all  these  and  all  kindred  virtues,  complete 
the  grand  end  or  purpose  of  salvation — likeness  to 
God,  and  power  to  glorify  and  enjoy  God. 

2.  Sobriety.  “  Be  sober.”  No  intoxicated 
man,  whether  his  condition  is  caused  by  strong 
drink  or  a  surfeit  of  the  world,  is  fit  for  any  post 
that  demands  vigilance.  Constant  sobriety  is  the 
price  of  spiritual  liberty.  A  drunken  nation  is  on 
the  verge  of  ruin.  The  professed  Christian,  who 


KEEPING  THE  HEART 


79 


is  so  filled  with  the  world  that  he  says,  “  I  am  rich 
and  increased  with  goods  and  have  need  of  noth¬ 
ing/’  is  wretched  and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind 
and  naked,  and  in  such  a  condition  he  is  on  the 
verge  of  utter  ruin. 

“  Let  your  moderation  he  known,”  is  the  com¬ 
mand  of  the  apostle.  Radicalism  is  manifested  as 
much  in  extreme  formality  as  in  extreme  notions 
of  religious  straightness.  A  formality  void  of  the 
Spirit,  and  a  rigidness  void  of  the  melting,  are 
abominations;  hut  if  formality  could  he  filled  with 
life  it  would  meet  on  an  equal  footing  with  rigid¬ 
ness  melted  with  love.  A  zealous,  Spirit-filled 
formalism,  coupled  with  melted,  fiery  radicalism, 
so-called,  produce  moderation. 

Temperance  is  akin  to  moderation.  The  com¬ 
mand  is,  “  Be  temperate  in  all  things.”  This  com¬ 
mand  is  effective  in  fasting  as  well  as  in  eating, 
in  waking  or  in  sleeping,  in  speaking  or  remaining 
silent,  in  work  or  play.  In  case  of  a  doubt  it  is 
generally  better  to  choose  the  side  of  self-denial, 
hut  this  is  not  an  infallible  rule,  and  if  continually 
followed  would  lead  to  asceticism.  In  general,  in 
the  absence  of  direct  divine  revelation,  a  sanctified 
judgment  is  a  tolerably  safe  guide. 

Sobriety  demands  humility,  for  the  man  who 
thinks  of  himself  soberly  is  not  apt  to  place  too 
high  an  estimate  on  his  own  worth.  It  is  generally 
better  to  err  on  the  side  of  under-  than  over-esti¬ 
mation  of  one’s  own  worth.  Take  a  low  seat  and 


80  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


then  if  you  are  exalted  you  will  have  praise  of 
those  who  behold,  but  if  you  take  an  exalted  place 
and  are  abased  your  fall  will  be  great. 

3.  Hopefulness.  “  Hope  to  the  end  for  the 
grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  revela¬ 
tion  of  J esus  Christ.”  Matthew  Henry  paraphrases 
this  passage  thus :  “  Hope  perfectly  or  thoroughly 
for  the  grace  that  is  brought  to  you  in,  or  by,  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ:  by  the  gospel  which 
brings  life  and  immortality  to  light :  hope  perfectly, 
trust  without  doubting  to  that  grace  which  is  now 
offered  to  you  by  the  gospel.” 

Hope  is  the  optimistic  prophet  of  the  soul. 
Without  hope  we  not  only  become  pessimistic  but 
gloomy  and  even  melancholy.  Hope  is  an  anchor 
to  the  soul;  it  reaches  the  steadfastness  of  an  un¬ 
seen  divinity.  Hope  is  the  lifter  up  of  our  heads. 
Though  all  around  is  dismal  and  unpromising,  hope 
clears  the  way  to  victory,  and  shouts  its  triumphs 
even  amid  defeats. 

“  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  and  why 
art  thou  disquieted  within  me?  hope  thou  in  God: 
for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him,  who  is  the  health  of 
my  countenance,  and  my  God.” 


XI 

OBEDIENCE  AND  THE  FORMER  LUSTS 


u  As  obedient  children,  not  fashioning  yourselves  accordr 
ing  to  the  former  lusts  in  your  ignorance .” — I  Peteb  1:14. 

PETER  was  with  the  Master  in  the  holy 
mount  and  beheld  Him  when  the  fashion 
of  His  countenance  was  changed  and  His 
raiment  became  as  white  as  snow.  What  an  im¬ 
pression  this  scene  made  on  the  susceptible  heart 
of  Peter!  Henceforth  his  life  must  he  fashioned 
after  the  life  of  his  divine  Ideal.  He  would  he 
Ohristlike. 

He  suggested  building  tabernacles  and  taking  up 
his  abode  in  the  mount,  but  God  showed  him  a  bet¬ 
ter  way,  and  sent  him  out  to  preach  the  transfigured 
life  to  a  lost  world.  The  shining  raiments  of  the 
mount  were  no  more  of  an  inspiration  to  the  be¬ 
wildered  disciple  than  were  the  hungry  faces  of  the 
multitudes  at  Pentecost.  He  beheld  the  visions 
of  God  on  the  desolate  hilltop,  but  now  he  catches 
a  vision  of  God’s  transforming  power,  entering,  re¬ 
newing,  regenerating,  sanctifying  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  lost  men.  If  the  former  vision  is  glorious 
the  latter  vision  exceeds  in  glory. 

Standing  up  in  the  midst  of  the  wondering 

throng,  this  once  fearful  hut  now  renewed  disciple 

81 


82  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


proclaimed  to  those  who  would  forbear  as  well  as 
those  who  would  hear  that  the  Man  whom  they  had 
crucified  with  wicked  hands  was  both  Lord  and 
Christ,  the  one  whom  David  had  foreseen,  the  hope 
of  the  ancients,  the  joy  of  the  Church. 

The  sight  of  this  transfigured  disciple  proclaim¬ 
ing  a  crucified  but  now  risen  Christ  pricked  the 
multitudes  to  the  heart,  and  so  set  them  to  longing 
for  conformity  to  the  same  Image  that  they  cried, 
“  Men  and  brethren,  What  shall  we  do  ?  ” 

In  the  passage  before  us  the  writer  exhorts  us 
to  flee  from  those  things  which  were  the  cause  of 
our  undoing,  with  each  clause  sinking  deeper  into 
the  cause  of  our  perverseness;  then  suddenly  turn¬ 
ing  away  from  this  vision  of  man’s  uncleanness,  he 
catches,  in  the  next  verse,  the  full  vision  of  God’s 
holiness,  and  man’s  possibilties  in  attaining  to  that 
holiness. 

But  what  a  vision  of  man’s  wretchedness,  of  my 
wickedness,  is  comprised  in  these  words!  No  mat¬ 
ter  how  disagreeable  the  task,  let  us  look,  for  a  few 
moments,  into  the  hole  of  the  pit  from  whence  we 
were  digged,  and  then  thank  God  for  a  Deliverer. 

Ignorance.  How  little  the  natural  man  knows 
of  God!  He  can  behold  the  glorious  sun  shining 
down  from  the  heights  of  heaven,  and  never  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  divine  majesty  that  placed  it 
there.  Neither  forests  or  waving  fields,  gentle 
breezes  or  refreshing  rains,  summer’s  gladness  or 
winter’s  snows,  plenty  or  famine,  preach  any  ser- 


OBEDIENCE  AND  FORMER  LUSTS  83 


mons  to  his  darkened  mind.  Divine  providences, 
gentle  or  severe,  are  of  little  worth  to  him.  He  can 
tell  the  nature  and  properties  of  plants  and  min¬ 
erals,  knows  the  haunts  and  attributes  of  wild  ani¬ 
mals,  can  reason  wisely  of  the  forces  of  nature  and 
their  inherent  powers,  but  cannot  see  the  God  whose 
handiwork  these  things  are. 

These  “  natural  ”  men  can  see  the  beauties  of 
Shakespeare  and  Milton ;  analyze  with  learned  nice¬ 
ness  the  works  of  Dickens  or  Kipling;  they  can 
digest  volumes  of  mathematics,  science,  of  litera¬ 
ture,  but  can  see  nothing  in  the  Word  of  God,  the 
Book  of  books. 

Oh,  brethren,  let  us  teach  men  to  love  the  Word 
of  God.  Let  us  throw  aside  our  wise  sayings,  let 
us  stop  trying  to  modernize  the  sacred  desk,  and 
let  us  make  this  our  one  aim,  to  enlighten  men’s 
minds  concerning  the  mightiest  theme  of  eternity, 
and  save  their  souls.  I  know  some  will  not  listen 
to  the  voice  of  those  who  would  charm  them  with 
the  old,  old  story,  but  if  we  do  our  duty  their  blood 
is  off  our  skirts. 

Corrupt  Affections.  Hot  only  are  men’s 
minds  perverse,  but  their  affections  are  evil.  It 
seems  as  though  one  glance  at  the  great  mass  of 
humanity  would  convince  any  right-minded  man 
of  this  fact.  Why  do  men  love  pleasures  more  than 
God?  Why  must  appeals  be  made  to  men’s  appe¬ 
tites  or  love  of  fun  to  eke  out  a  miserable  pittance 
for  the  work  of  God?  Why  are  the  circus,  the 


84  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


theater,  the  parks  and  movies  over-full  and  the 
house  of  God  lying  waste?  If  men’s  affections 
are  not  perverse  why  will  they  compass  sea  and 
land,  undergo  any  hardships  or  self-denials  to  ob¬ 
tain  riches,  and  why  will  they  spend  these  riches 
so  lavishly  for  their  own  pleasure  or  profit,  and 
give  to  the  cause  of  God  with  grudging  hand,  or 
not  give  at  all? 

See  that  fine  looking,  well-kept  young  man  en¬ 
tering  yonder  grog  shop.  He  stays  hut  a  short  time 
until  he  comes  out  reeling,  simpering,  falling  in 
his  own  vomit.  Shameful  degradation  has  taken 
possession  of  his  glory.  Why  does  he  delight  in  the 
thing  that  thus  causes  his  downfall? 

If  one  could  hut  go  with  the  Christian  mission¬ 
ary  into  the  depths  of  Africa,  of  India,  of  China, 
or  even  of  London  or  New  York,  and  behold  the 
wretchedness  and  debauchery,  the  uncleanness  and 
crime,  he  would  carry  away  a  vivid  remembrance 
of  the  depths  to  which  “  the  former  lusts  ”  would 
carry  a  man  unhindered  by  the  preventing  grace 
of  God,  or  the  restraining  power  of  law  or  society. 

Pebveeted  Will.  If  the  unregenerated  man 
is  left  free  to  “  fashion  himself  ”  his  ruin  is  ac¬ 
complished.  Led  on  by  the  perversion  of  his  own 
heart  and  the  ignorance  of  his  mind  his  will  is 
forced  to  go  wrong. 

This  is  where  parents  so  often  make  a  sad  mis¬ 
take,  and,  oh,  how  often  they  say,  “  I  see  it  now, 
but  it  is  too  late.”  Children  of  tender  years  are 


OBEDIENCE  AND  FORMER  LUSTS  85 


left  to  choose  their  own  amusements  and  compan¬ 
ions.  Vile  thoughts  are  thrust  into  their  minds  by 
evil  associates  and  the  downward  journey  is  begun. 
In  due  time  they  turn  away  from  the  church,  they 
forsake  the  family  altar,  they  do  not  kneel  at  their 
bedsides,  they  forget  the  Bible.  Their  wills,  un¬ 
controlled  by  proper  parental  government,  are  fash¬ 
ioning  them.  Finally,  wilful,  headstrong,  perverse, 
with  the  bits  in  their  teeth,  they  repudiate  their 
parents’  religion,  they  refuse  to  obey,  and  declare 
they  can  and  will  take  care  of  themselves.  Out 
into  the  dark  they  go,  away  from  God,  from  home, 
from  heaven,  to  stumble  on  the  dark  mountains  of 
sin,  to  fall  and  rise  no  more.  A  deceived  heart, 
encouraged  by  a  perverted  will  and  vile  affections, 
has  turned  them  aside. 

Is  this  your  son  or  daughter  ?  Are  the  reins  held 
with  loving  firmness  that  the  will  of  that  child  may 
be  taught  to  fashion  itself  after  God’s  pattern? 

But  now  we  come  to  the  end  of  this  ugly  picture. 
Thank  God  for  grace  that  can  change  all  this! 
And  from  disobedient  and  gainsaying  men  refash¬ 
ion  us  into  obedient,  humble  children.  A’Kempis 
prays,  “  Set  me  free  from  evil  passions,  and  heal 
my  heart  from  all  inordinate  affections :  that  being 
inwardly  cured  and  thoroughly  cleansed,  I  may  be 
made  fit  to  love,  courageous  to  suffer,  steady  to  per¬ 
severe.” 

Obedience.  “  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice, 
and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams.”  Obedience, 


86  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


divinely  inspired,  is  not  a  spiritless,  slavish  ab¬ 
negation  of  self,  so  forcibly  illustrated  in  Roman 
Catholic  monasticism,  but  a  sprightly,  joyous  pur¬ 
pose  to  do  God’s  will,  knowing  that  the  following 
of  that  will  is  to  one’s  own  best  good  and  eternal 
gain,  as  well  as  the  greatest  glory  to  God,  our 
greatest  benefactor. 

Obedience  is  a  self-forgetful  grace.  Self-abase¬ 
ment,  in  the  Spirit,  places  the  soul  in  line  with  the 
requirements  of  God  and  on  the  plane  of  our  high¬ 
est  good.  The  vainglorious  vaunting  of  self,  so 
common  with  the  world,  is  inconsistent  with  god¬ 
liness  and  is  another  proof  of  the  utter  blindness 
of  the  unregenerate  heart;  but  that  elimination  of 
self,  called  in  Christian  phraseology  “  humility,” 
is  a  grace  of  the  highest  worth  and  greatest  benefit, 
but  is  seldom  seen. 

If  twelve  legions  of  angels  stood  ready  to  obey 
the  Man  of  Calvary,  even  to  the  extent  of  deliver¬ 
ing  Him  from  His  tormentors,  why  should  I,  a 
humble  man,  a  worm  of  the  dust,  consider  it  be¬ 
neath  my  dignity  to  run  quickly  at  His  word  to 
do  the  most  menial  service  or  the  hardest  tasks  ? 

The  spirit  of  obedience  settles  all  questions  that 
may  arise  concerning  duty.  This  form  of  obedi¬ 
ence  is  not  slavery,  it  is  the  joyous  bound  of  child¬ 
hood  conquered  by  love. 

But  you  say,  “  If  this  is  true,  where  is  the 
cross  ?  ”  To  which  we  would  answer,  Are  not 
heavy  burdens  carried  gladly  for  the  one  you  love? 


OBEDIENCE  AND  FORMER  LUSTS  87 


They  are  heavy,  to  be  sure,  they  weary  the  shoul¬ 
ders,  they  may  cause  the  tears  to  flow,  but  would 
you  for  all  this  throw  them  down?  Would  you 
say,  “  Wife,  I  am  sorry  indeed  that  I  am  forced 
to  bear  such  burdens  for  you  and  the  little  ones  ?  ” 
Not  if  there  is  any  manhood  left  in  you.  You  look 
over  the  feelings  of  pain,  and  truthfully  say,  “  I 
bear  my  burdens  gladly  for  the  ones  I  love.”  Like* 
wise  the  heart  of  the  Christian  says : 

“  The  old  rugged  cross,  how  I  love  it, 

Its  burdens,  reproaches  and  shame; 

And  naught  else  on  earth  do  I  covet 
But  to  bear  it  in  Jesus’  name.” 

An  obedience  that  cannot  bear  the  test  of  disap¬ 
pointments,  of  burdens,  of  heartaches  or  of  crosses 
is  not  genuine  obedience.  A  child  that  runs  with 
as  great  zeal  to  do  the  unpleasant  things  as  the 
pleasant  is  an  obedient  child.  A  Christian  who  has 
learned  to  obey  in  trial  the  same  as  in  joy  is  made 
of  martyr  stuff.  He  is  patient  in  tribulation  and 
in  everything  gives  thanks. 


XII 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 

“But  as  he  which  hath  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ife  holy 
in  all  manner  of  conversation  ” — I  Peter  1:15. 

PETEK  and  his  brother  Andrew  were  down 
at  the  Sea  of  Galilee  fishing.  Jesus,  just 
returned  from  His  wilderness  temptation, 
passing  by,  saw  them,  and  said,  “  Follow  me,  and  I 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men.”  They  did  not  ques¬ 
tion  for  a  moment,  they  did  not  even  ask  the 
privilege  of  burying  their  father,  or  taking  the 
nets,  but,  “leaving  all,”  they  followed  Him. 

The  Lord  had  been  crucified  and  the  disciples 
were  broken-hearted.  Seven  of  them  were  together 
and  Peter  said,  “  I  go  a-fishing.”  They  all  replied 
that  they,  too,  would  go.  After  toiling  all  night 
with  no  success,  at  the  command  of  Jesus,  who  ap¬ 
peared  to  them,  unrecognized,  they  cast  their  nets 
on  the  right  side  of  the  ship  and  enclosed  a  great 
multitude  of  fishes.  Then  followed  the  conversa¬ 
tion  between  Jesus  and  Peter  in  which  the  Lord 
commanded  Peter  to  feed  His  sheep. 

Thus  for  the  first  and  for  the  last  time  was  our 
fisherman  disciple  called.  How  he  appreciated  the 
call  is  only  revealed  by  his  after  life  and  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  he  glorified  God  in  his  death. 

88 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 


89 


My  brethren,  what  a  glorious  calling  is  ours! 
Out  from  the  things  of  time,  the  things  that  per- 
plex  and  annoy ;  out  from  the  sins  of  the  world,  the 
sins  that  eat  as  a  canker  at  the  vitals  of  man’s  im¬ 
mortality;  out  from  the  pleasures  of  the  world, 
pleasures  that  glitter  as  a  bubble,  and  burst,  and 
are  gone;  out  from  the  sorrows  of  earth,  sorrows 
that  depress  and  drive  the  soul  to  despondency ;  out 
from  the  enjoyment  or  endurance  of  Egyptian  flesh- 
pots,  prodigal  swine-pens,  from  roaring  furnaces, 
and  lions’  dens,  into  the  glorious  light  and  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God.  Thank  God  for  the  mar¬ 
velous  change. 

Men  are  “  called  ”  to  various  earthly  positions 
and  occupations,  but  this  calling  is  “  unto  holiness.” 
That  calling  is  earthly,  this  calling  is  heavenly. 
That  calling  is  transient,  this  calling  is  eternal. 

Notice  who  it  is  that  calls.  “  I  the  Lord  have 
spoken  and  have  called  the  earth  from  the  rising 
of  the  sun  till  the  going  down  of  the  same.”  Pa¬ 
tiently,  tenderly,  persistently,  this  heavenly  Herald 
calls.  His  voice  is  heard  from  Eden  to  Patmos, 
from  creation  to  judgment. 

What  pathos  in  His  voice  as  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening  He  called  our  fallen  parents,  and  how  the 
guilty  pair  feared  to  meet  their  divine  Benefactor! 
He  called  the  antediluvian  world  by  the  preaching 
of  Noah;  He  called  Abram  to  leave  his  kindred 
and  gods  and  to  go  to  a  country  of  promise;  He 
called  Israel  out  of  the  iron  furnace,  Egypt,  and 


90  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


led  them  gently  for  forty  years  through  the  wilder¬ 
ness  of  trial;  He  called  His  disciples  from  their 
nets  and  from  their  tax-gathering  and  made  them 
savers  of  souls;  He  calls  you  and  me  from  the 
things  of  time  and  makes  us  kings  and  priests  unto 
God  with  the  promise  that  we  shall  reign  on  the 
earth. 

God  calls  in  every  way  possible  to  win  a  soul. 
His  gentle  as  well  as  His  severe  providences  re¬ 
mind  us  of  our  duty  to  Him.  Day  and  night,  year 
in  and  year  out,  He  is  knocking,  calling,  wooing, 
at  my  heart’s  door.  He  never  wearies  nor  ceases 
to  call.  While  there  is  any  hope  He  continues  to 
plead. 

I  catch  a  vision  of  a  kind,  patient  form  standing 
in  the  door  of  the  little  cottage  around  which  fond 
memory  clusters  so  many  joyous  days.  I  hear  her 
call  and  now  I  would  gladly  hasten  to  respond. 
But  we  folded  those  cold  hands  in  death,  we  ten¬ 
derly  closed  those  once  tear-stained  eyes,  and 
wrapped  that  beloved  form  in  a  beautiful  white 
robe,  emblem  of  purity — you  know  the  rest. 

Turning  tearfully  from  this  scene  (how  strange 
that  we  linger  at  the  house  of  grief!)  I  behold  an¬ 
other  and  a  more  glorious  vision.  The  gates  of 
heaven  are  open  wide,  and  in  its  portals  is  the  face 
of  One  that  is  more  marred  than  any  seen.  His 
hands,  His  feet,  and  His  side  are  pierced,  on  His 
brow  are  marks  of  a  thorn  crown,  and  across  His 
back  ugly  scars  from  the  cruel  scourge.  He  is 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 


91 


calling ;  hear  Him,  u  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.” 

0  my  soul,  why  so  cold  ?  Know  ye  not  that  yon¬ 
der  Form  is  the  Christ  of  God?  Do  you  not  know 
that  the  almighty  heart  is  filled  with  glowing  love 
for  thee?  Know  you  not  that  His  rest  which  He 
shall  give  is  glorious  ?  O  God,  soften,  melt,  tender 
my  heart,  remove  every  vestige  of  stoniness,  and 
let  me  melt  like  wax  in  the  furnace  of  Thy  fulness 
of  love. 

I  note  the  character  of  Him  who  calls.  He  is 
holy.  I  stand  in  awe  before  the  task  of  describing 
to  any  degree  the  holiness  of  God.  Such  a  task  is 
too  great  for  mortal  man. 

Could  I  receive  from  the  hand  of  God  a  spark 
of  the  celestial  Mind  and  with  this  as  a  guide  go 
forever  downward  into  the  unfathomable  chasms  of 
the  damned,  both  of  men  and  of  angels,  then  I 
could  behold  God’s  holiness  as  it  is  revealed  in  His 
hatred  for  sin.  Could  I,  guided  by  the  same  wis¬ 
dom,  mount  forever  the  pinnacles  of  heaven’3 
effulgent  glories  and  search  unwearied  the  depths, 
the  height,  the  length,  the  breadth  of  the  divine 
Being  whose  nature  is  holy,  then  I  could  find  some 
of  God’s  holiness  in  its  glorious  and  essential 
being. 

This  majestic,  this  awful  God  has  called  me, 
why  should  I  delay?  Mending  nets  and  gathering 
taxes  are  legitimate  pursuits,  but  when  God  beck- 


92  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


ons  me  away,  why  should  I  linger?  If  God  calls 
me  He  means  to  make  of  me  something  this  world 
could  not  make.  God  knows  me  and  sees  in  my 
being  possibilities  man  could  never  see.  He  may 
exercise  these  talents  by  putting  me  to  feeding 
sheep  on  the  “  back  side  of  the  desert,”  or  break¬ 
ing  up  the  fallow  ground  and  smashing  the  clods 
in  some  secluded  spot  in  His  great  field,  or  He  may 
set  me  to  gleaning  with  sadness  behind  the  reapers 
who  shout  as  they  garner  in  the  sheaves.  If  I  am 
true,  will  He  not  reward  me  at  the  last?  If  the 
reward  is  not  the  greatest,  the  consciousness  of  hav¬ 
ing  done  my  duty  is  a  great  reward. 

When  Philip  of  Macedon  heard  of  the  beauty  of 
Athens  he  said,  “  I  must  have  this  town  either 
through  gold  or  through  the  sword.”  How  strange 
that  mortal  man  should  neglect  all  the  glories  and 
riches  of  heaven  to  which  he  is  called  and  choose 
instead  the  perishing  glory  of  time!  George  Nitsch 
says,  “  Oh,  that  we  only  had  a  bunch  of  grapes  out 
of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  were  able  to  dip  the 
point  of  our  staff  in  heaven’s  flowing  honey!  We 
would  then  lose  our  desire  for  the  sour  drinks  of 
this  present  life,  and  despise  them,  as  the  children 
of  Israel  did  the  manna  in  the  wilderness.” 


XIII 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 

“  But  as  he  which  has  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in 
all  manner  of  conversation ;  because  it  is  written ,  Be  ye 
holy ;  for  I  am  holy  ” — I  Peter  1:15,  16. 

FROM  his  childhood  Peter  had  followed  the 
occupation  of  a  fisherman.  His  nets 
brought  up  “  both  good  and  bad/’  and  he 
had  become  accustomed  to  sorting  out  and  reject¬ 
ing  the  had  and  carefully  preserving  the  good. 
After  all,  it  is  an  enviable  accomplishment  to  be 
able  to  draw  the  fine  shades  of  demarcation  between 
the  good  and  the  near-good.  Many  an  otherwise 
good  workman  has  failed  because  of  a  weakness 
here.  The  failures  are  they  who  build  on  a  good 
foundation  but  erect  their  superstructure  of  wood, 
hay  and  stubble.  These  the  fires  of  trial  will  de¬ 
stroy.  On  the  other  hand,  the  successes  are  they 
who  build  of  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones,  mate¬ 
rials  which  the  tests  only  cause  to  shine  more  bril¬ 
liantly.  No  genuine  gold  need  fear  the  test  that 
reveals  its  character. 

How  a  fisherman  delights  in  calling  attention  to 
the  fine  qualities  of  his  catch !  In  casting  his  nets 
into  the  deep  seas  of  God’s  Word  and  of  personal 
spiritual  revelation  Peter  had  brought  up  many 

peculiar  treasures,  hut  none  greater  than  those  men- 

93 


94  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


tioned  in  the  verses  under  consideration:  God  is 
holy;  the  holy  God  has  called;  since  God  is  holy, 
we  can  be  holy ;  since  God  is  holy,  we  must  be  holy ; 
and,  this  holiness  should  manifest  itself  in  each 
word,  thought  and  action  of  our  lives. 

God  is  holy.  Benjamin  Whichcote  says,  “  If  a 
man  has  wrong  suppositions  in  his  mind  concern¬ 
ing  God,  he  will  be  wrong  through  all  the  parts  of 
his  religion.’’  Holiness  is  the  antithesis  of  sin. 
Because  of  His  holiness  God  is  inexorably  and 
eternally  opposed  to  sin.  No  man  can  be  approved 
of  God  while  he  wilfully  harbours  evil  in  his  heart 
or  life.  If  men  will  get  it  into  their  minds  that 
God  is  holy,  and  will  obtain  a  proper  realization  of 
what  holiness  is  and  how  it  is  opposed  to  sin,  they 
must  inevitably  see  the  impossibility  of  serving  God 
and  the  devil. 

The  awful  holiness  of  God  so  places  Him  in  op¬ 
position  to  sin  that  He  will  eventually  sweep  the 
universe  with  the  bosom  of  His  wrath,  make  every¬ 
thing  outside  of  hell  immaculately  clean,  and  con¬ 
fine  sin  forever  within  the  adamant  walls  of  perdi¬ 
tion.  Some  people  say  that  any  place  outside  of 
heaven  will  be  hell.  How  strange  that  they  cannot 
see  that  this  would  be  surrendering  all  but  the 
definite  place  called  heaven  to  the  devil!  No,  the 
fact  is  that  everything  outside  of  hell  will  be  heaven 
or  will  be  so  cleansed  from  pollution,  or  the  pos* 
sibility  of  pollution,  that  nothing  will  remain  to 
hurt  or  destroy. 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 


95 


The  holy  God  has  called.  Although  God  is  holy, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  is  unalterably  opposed  to  sin, 
yet  in  His  infinite  wisdom  and  grace  He  found  a 
way  to  save  unholy  men.  Forth  from  the  realms 
of  light,  down  into  this  dark,  sinful  world,  He  sent 
His  only  begotten  Son  to  carry  the  glad  news  of  an 
open  fountain  into  which  sinners  might  plunge  and 
be  clean.  At  the  heart’s  doors  of  rebellious  men 
this  heavenly  Messenger  stands  knocking,  calling, 
pleading.  Though  oft  rejected  and  insulted  He 
does  not  leave,  but  calls  all  the  more  tenderly. 

0  my  soul,  know  thy  worth  and  thy  day  of  salva¬ 
tion.  Behold  thy  Bedeemer,  thy  Friend;  forsake 
thy  earth-born  pleasures  and  flee  to  this  Friend  of 
sinners,  recline  upon  His  bosom  and  drink  in  of 
the  sweetness  and  fragrance  of  His  gracious  Spirit. 
Samuel  Rutherford  says,  “  Think  ye  it  a  small 
honour  to  stand  before  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb,  and  to  be  clothed  in  white,  and  to  be  called 
to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,  and  to  be  led 
to  the  Fountain  of  living  waters,  and  to  come  to  the 
Well-head,  even  God  Himself,  and  to  get  your  fill 
of  the  clear,  cold,  sweet,  refreshing  Water  of  life, 
the  King’s  own  well,  and  to  put  up  your  own  sinful 
hand  to  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  take  down  and  eat 
the  sweetest  apple  in  all  God’s  heavenly  paradise, 
Jesus  Christ,  your  Life  and  your  Lord  ?  Up  your 
heart!  shout  for  joy!  your  King  is  coming  to  fetch 
you  to  His  Father’s  house.” 


96  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


Since  God  is  holy,  we  can  be  boly.  God  is  not 
a  tyrant  to  command  His  creatures  to  perform  im¬ 
possibilities.  He  is  not  a  weakling,  lacking  power 
to  assist  the  struggling  honest  soul.  Neither  is  He 
miserly,  withholding  grace  and  strength  that  men 
so  much  need.  He  is  able  to  deliver  and  to  preserve 
the  godly.  He  does  not  give  His  Spirit  by 
measure,  but  abundantly,  and  when  He  gives  His 
Spirit,  He  gives  of  His  own  nature  which  is  holy. 
There  is  no  need  in  the  human  family,  no  matter 
how  great,  that  God  will  not  supply.  Every  possi¬ 
bility  in  the  atonement  of  Christ  is  at  the  disposal 
of  him  who  will  turn  from  sin  and  join  the  ranks 
of  the  willing  and  obedient. 

How  much  more  we  would  prosper  if  we  would 
stop  measuring  God’s  ability  by  our  own  weakness, 
and  acknowledge  that  in  Jesus  Christ  all  fulness 
of  grace  and  deliverance  dwells,  and  that  this  ful¬ 
ness  is  manifested  for  our  temporal  and  eternal 
felicity. 

Since  God  is  holy  we  must  be  holy.  How  any 
man  who  reads  the  Bible,  and  claims  to  believe 
what  he  reads,  can  escape  this  conclusion  is  a  stand¬ 
ing  mystery.  God  commands  nothing  that  is  un¬ 
essential  to  our  salvation ;  and  when  He  says,  “  Be 
ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy,”  He  knows  that  holiness  is 
an  absolute  essential  to  our  well-being. 

Of  course  any  of  us  can  refuse  to  be  made  holy, 
but  when  spiritual  well-being  is  at  stake  holiness  is 
a  necessity.  When  Jesus  said  to  Nicodemus,  “Ye 


CALLED  UNTO  HOLINESS 


97 


must  be  born  again,”  He  did  not  mean  to  teach  that 
Nicodemus  was  forced  to  be  converted,  but  that  if 
he  desired  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  he  must 
be  born  again.  The  new  birth  was  an  essential 
qualification  to  his  eternal  happiness.  And  just  as 
truly  is  holiness  of  heart  and  life  an  essential 
qualification  that  we  may  enter  heaven. 

This  holiness  should  manifest  itself  in  each 
word,  thought  and  action  of  our  lives.  God  begins 
His  work  of  purification  in  the  heart,  and  when  the 
heart  is  made  right  the  words,  thoughts  and  actions 
will  be  right,  for  do  men  gather  thorn-apples  from 
grapevines  or  thistles  from  fig  trees?  Or  does  a 
sweet  fountain  send  forth  bitter  water  ? 

What  a  glorious  privilege  is  here!  The  mighty 
God,  the  infinitely  happy  Deity  imparting,  along 
with  His  purity,  His  own  joy  to  His  needy  crea¬ 
tures!  Jesus  said,  “  These  things  have  I  spoken 
unto  you  that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and 
that  your  joy  might  be  full.”  Surely  this  is  “  ful¬ 
ness  of  joy.” 

Isaac  Pennington  says,  “  There  is  in  God  a  ful¬ 
ness  of  blessedness  and  perfection,  which  He  will 
not  always  lock  up  in  His  own  bosom,  but  will  find 
a  time  to  let  down  upon  His  seed,  and  upon  His 
creatures,  that  they  also  may  taste  of,  and  fill  them¬ 
selves  with  the  sweetness  and  fatness  of  His  life 
and  Spirit.” 


XIV 


THE  COMING  JUDGMENT 

“  And  if  ye  call  on  the  Father ,  who  without  respect  of  per¬ 
son  judgeth  according  to  every  man’s  work,  pass  the  time  of 
your  sojourning  here  in  fear.” — I  Peteb  1 : 17. 

ANDKEW  JUKES  says,  “  Only  on  dark 
cloudy  days  can  the  bow  of  heaven  be  seen 
spanning  the  lower  earth.  Then,  mid 
dark  waters,  when  the  sun  breaks  out,  though  the 
cloud  may  be  dark,  a  bow  appears  amid  the  dark¬ 
ness;  half  a  ring — half  that  ring  with  which  the 
regenerate  soul  is  now  married  to  the  Lord.  The 
lower  world  yet  hides  the  rest  of  the  ring;  but  on 
high  (  a  rainbow  ’  shall  be  seen  ‘  in  a  circle  round 
the  throne.’  ” 

Along  with  other  men,  our  fisherman  disciple  had 
his  seasons  of  passing  through  dark  waters,  but  he 
learned  that  this  life  is  only  a  sojourn,  and  that  he 
was  living  in  the  midst  of  strangers  who  were  hos¬ 
tile  to  his  profession  and  who  would  exert  every 
power  to  cause  him  to  make  shipwreck  of  grace  and 
thus  displease  God,  hence  the  need  of  fear. 

He  had  seen  his  Master  command  the  winds  and 
calm  the  raging  sea;  he  had  seen  the  demoniac  sit 
clothed  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  and  the  multitude  go 

backwards  and  fall  to  the  earth  before  the  calm  gaze 

98 


THE  COMING  JUDGMENT 


99 


of  the  Son  of  man;  hut  now  he  catches  a  glimpse 
of  the  great  white  throne  and  Him  that  sits  thereon, 
before  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heavens  flee 
away  and  in  view  of  the  majesty  and  awfulness  of 
that  hour,  he  counsels  us  to  pass  the  time  of  our 
earthly  life  in  fear. 

This  life  is  a  sojourn.  A  sojourner  is  a  tempo¬ 
rary  resident,  one  who  will  stay  but  a  short  time 
and  then  be  gone.  The  Christian  realizes  that  here 
he  has  no  continuing  city,  but  he  seeks  one  to 
come,  a  city  which  is  out  of  sight,  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God.  The  worldly  man’s  hopes  and 
aims  are  too  degrading  and  transitory  to  be  worthy 
the  quest  of  an  immortal  soul.  “  He  builds  too  low 
who  builds  beneath  the  skies.” 

This  life  is  but  a  rehearsal  where  men  prepare 
themselves  for  the  great  realities  of  eternity;  it  is 
only  a  school  in  which  they  learn  lessons  and  fit 
themselves  for  the  eternal  sphere  of  action  in  the 
other  world.  How  many  persons  have  trifled  away 
their  school  days  and  afterwards  spent  their  lives 
in  regretting  their  lack  of  fitness  to  meet  the  great 
problems  with  which  they  were  confronted!  In 
like  manner,  there  are  many  who  trifle  away  their 
earth-lives  in  dreams  of  sin,  and  they  finally  awake, 
when  it  is  too  late,  to  the  fact  of  a  misspent  life 
and  consequent  lack  of  preparation  for  the  great 
problems  of  eternity.  Eternal  derelicts!  Drifting 
out  into  the  night  of  regrets  and  the  hell  of  lost 
hopes,  without  rudder  or  anchor,  to  be  dashed  for- 


100  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


ever  in  their  helplessness  against  the  fiery  rocks  of 
perdition!  Eternally  weeping  ont  their  remorse 
over  a  mined  life !  But  their  tears  will  never  fall 
in  mercy’s  sight. 

Oh,  my  friend!  for  Jesus’  sake,  for  your  own 
soul’s  sake,  cease  your  trifling,  gird  up  the  loins  of 
your  mind,  call  upon  God,  and  pass  the  time  of 
your  sojourning  here  in  fear. 

Our  surroundings  are  not  conducive  to  growth 
or  even  continuance  in  grace.  Isaac  Watts  under¬ 
stood  this  point  when  he  wrote : 

“  Must  I  be  carried  to  the  skies 
On  flowery  beds  of  ease, 

While  others  fought  to  win  the  prize 
And  sailed  through  bloody  seas? 

"Are  there  no  foes  for  me  to  face? 

Must  I  not  stem  the  flood? 

Is  this  vile  world  a  friend  to  grace, 

To  help  me  on  to  God  ?  ” 

It  seems  to  he  the  continual  study  of  worldly 
men  to  invent  new  methods  of  alluring  from  the 
paths  of  righteousness  those  who  otherwise  would 
he  pious.  Theatres,  movies,  amusement  parks,  new 
and  vulgar  dances,  ungodly  secret  societies  and 
cluhs,  fashionable  and  immodest  dressing,  money¬ 
making  schemes,  “  and  such  like,”  spring  up  on 
every  side  in  an  ever-increasing  multitude,  until 
they  have  become  as  much  a  pest  as  the  frogs  of 
Egypt,  and  their  name  is  legion. 

Besides  these  things  which  allure  are  others 
which  are  opposed  to  the  grace  of  God.  False  doc- 


THE  COMING  JUDGMENT 


101 


trines,  higher  criticism,  infidelity,  formality,  oc¬ 
cult  science,  shallow  evangelism,  a  time-serving 
ministry,  unreasonable  and  wicked  men  who  perse¬ 
cute  the  way,  and  many  other  notions  and  isms,  are 
bitterly  arrayed  against  the  gospel  and  those  who 
profess  a  personal  interest  in  its  blessings. 

There  is  great  need  of  carefulness  on  the  part  of 
the  Christian  that  he  may  properly  meet  the  beset- 
ments  of  the  way.  When  our  first  parents  came 
from  the  hands  of  God,  in  their  innocence,  they 
knew  nothing  of  sin,  hut  when  evil  came  into  the 
world  it  became  necessary  that  we  should  know 
enough  of  sin  to  avoid  it,  enough  of  ourselves  to 
properly  practise  self-control,  and  enough  of  God’s 

will  to  follow  it. 

» 

It  is  a  mistake  to  say  that  all  we  need  to  preach 
is  the  positive  side  of  religion.  On  the  contrary, 
enough  must  he  said  of  negatives  to  warn  people 
that  the  end  of  the  ways  of  sin  is  death.  Many  a 
person  has  made  shipwreck  of  faith  because  he  had 
not  been  taught  certain  things  were  sinful  and  that 
indulgence  in  evil  would  forfeit  the  favour  of  God. 
Either  all  negative  or  all  positive  produces  an  over¬ 
balanced  religion,  while  the  religion  of  the  Bible  is 
well  balanced,  composed  of  hatred  for  sin  and  love 
for  God  and  our  neighbours. 

Besides  being  beset  by  foes  without,  there  are 
certain  appetites  and  desires  which  are  perfectly 
natural  and  legitimate,  hut  concerning  which  self- 
denial  must  he  practised  or  they  will  monopolize 


102  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


our  attention  and  thus  cause  our  overthrow.  Jesus 
said,  “  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.” 

Then,  the  honest  heart  is  careful  to  know  the 
will  of  God  and  when  it  is  known,  to  perform  it. 
There  is  too  much  haphazard  religion,  too  much 
blindness  and  too  little  studying  the  will  of  God. 
Search  the  Scriptures,  for  they  testify  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  reveal  the  path  of  duty. 

The  heart  must  he  filled  with  a  filial  fear  of  God 
and  an  earnest  desire  to  do  His  will.  The  fear  of 
the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 

All  this  carefulness  should  be  exercised  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  we  must  all  stand  before  the  awful 
judgment  seat.  The  passage  before  us  states  three 
facts  concerning  the  judgment: 

We  will  be  judged  by  the  Father.  That  awful 
being,  before  whose  blazing  throne  angels  and  arch¬ 
angels,  principalities  and  powers,  bow  in  abject 
humility,  will  summon  us  before  His  tribunal,  and 
while  His  omniscient  gaze  penetrates  to  the  deepest 
recesses  of  our  hearts,  will  pass  our  sentence  which 
we  must  acknowledge  to  be  just. 

He  will  judge  us  according  to  our  works.  Not 
according  to  our  nationality,  our  family,  our  colour, 
our  condition  in  life  or  our  church  membership,  but 
according  to  our  works.  No  man  can  blame  the 
judge  for  his  condemnation,  but  in  addition  to  the 
sentence  of  the  judge  the  sinner’s  own  conscience 
will  declare  its  justice^  on  the  other  hand,  the  re- 


THE  COMING  JUDGMENT 


103 


ward  of  the  righteous  will  he  all  the  greater  be¬ 
cause  it  is  based  on  moral  worth  as  manifested  in 
the  whole  course  of  their  ransomed  and  Spirit- 
guided  lives. 

The  Father  will  pass  judgment  without  respect 
of  persons.  The  money  of  earth’s  millionaires  will 
be  utterly  worthless,  the  greatness  of  kings  and 
lords  will  be  contemned,  the  learning  of  the  wise 
will  be  counted  as  foolishness,  and  all  these  will 
stand  on  equal  footing  with  the  poorest,  the  most 
unlearned  and  the  meanest  of  earth,  for  God  ac¬ 
cepts  no  man’s  person. 

0  God,  since  these  things  are  true,  may  I  pass 
the  time  of  my  earthly  sojourn  in  fear;  may  I  pray 
without  ceasing  that  when  my  Lord  may  come  I 
may  meet  Him  with  gladness  and  enter  into  His 

joy. 


xv 

KEDEMPTION 


“  Forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with 
corruptible  things ,  as  silver  and  gold ,  from  your  vain  con¬ 
versation  received  by  tradition  from  your  fathers — I  Peteb 
1:18. 

EVERY  good  Jew  held  the  traditions  of  the 
fathers  in  great  respect.  Very  often  they 
placed  greater  stress  on  such  things  than 
they  did  on  the  written  word.  Jesus  even  accused 
them  of  making  void  the  law  by  their  traditions. 

Peter  had  heard  Jesus  rebuke  the  Jews  for  their 
extreme  notions  concerning  the  Sabbath,  had  heard 
His  defense  when  the  Pharisee  had  rebuked  Him 
for  eating  with  unwashed  hands,  and  had  heard  the 
scathing  rebuke  so  justly  administered  to  those  who 
tithed  mint,  anise  and  cummin,  but  neglected  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law;  but  for  some  reason 
his  Jewish  prejudices  still  clung  to  him,  until  he 
so  dissembled  that  Paul  felt  called  upon  to  ad¬ 
minister  a  stinging  rebuke.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
this  was  the  last  time  he  was  guilty  of  such  an 
offense,  and  we  have  strong  reasons  to  believe  that 
it  was,  for  in  this  verse  he  speaks  of  being  delivered 
from  the  vain  conversation  received  by  tradition. 

“  Forasmuch  ”  Seeing  or  considering  that  they 

knew  how  they  were  redeemed  from  their  vain  con- 

104 


REDEMPTION 


105 


versation,  another  reason  is  added  why  they  should 
pass  the  time  of  their  sojourning  here  in  fear. 
From  their  present  experience  of  the  truth  of  God 
they  are  convinced  of  the  further  truth  that  God 
shall  judge  the  world  in  righteousness. 

“  Ye  know  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with  cor¬ 
ruptible  things.”  This  verse  presents  the  negative 
side  of  redemption  from  two  angles ;  for  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  stating  what  redemption  saves  us  from,  it 
states  some  things  that  do  not  redeem  the  soul. 

“  Our  English  word  redemption,”  says  Dr.  Gill, 
“  is  from  the  Latin,  and  signifies  buying  again ; 
and  several  words  in  the  Greek  language  of  the 
New  Testament  are  used  in  the  affair  of  our  re¬ 
demption  which  signify  the  obtaining  of  something 
by  paying  a  proper  price  for  it.”  H.  B.  Smith,  in 
Thr.  Theol.,  says,  “  Redemption  implies  the  com¬ 
plete  deliverance  from  the  penalty,  power  and 
all  the  consequences  of  sin:  Atonement  is  used 
in  the  sense  of  the  sacrificial  work,  whereby  the 
redemption  from  the  condemning  power  of  the  law 
was  insured.”  Atonement  is  the  price  paid  for  all 
men  whether  they  are  ever  converted  or  not;  while 
redemption  is  actual  deliverance  from  the  power 
and  penalty  of  sin  through  that  atonement. 

Redemption  implies  a  finished  operation  which 
in  grace  only  comes  from  personal  contact  with  the 
Redeemer.  Since  sin  and  guilt  are  actualities,  the 
remedy  must  be  actual.  Like  disease  of  the  body, 
sin  is  a  disease  of  the  soul,  and  as  bodily  disease 


106  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


requires  the  immediate  application  of  a  specific 
remedy,  in  like  manner  soul  disease  requires  the 
immediate  application  of  God’s  remedy. 

As  sin  is  the  monster  which  has  led  humanity 
captive,  it  is  perfectly  natural  to  conclude  that,  if 
a  soul  is  delivered  from  its  awful  thralldom,  that 
soul  will  know  the  work  is  done  and  it  is  also 
natural  to  suppose  that  along  with  the  conscious¬ 
ness  of  deliverance  will  come  the  knowledge  of  the 
source  from  which  the  deliverance  proceeds.  Would 
the  Almighty  God  finish  as  infinite  a  work  as  the 
redemption  of  a  soul  and  leave  that  soul  in  igno¬ 
rance  of  the  fact  that  the  work  accomplished  is 
God’s  work  ?  I  think  not. 

There  is  no  power  in  corruptible  things  to  re¬ 
deem  a  soul.  “  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the 
Lord,  and  how  myself  before  the  high  God  ?  Shall 
I  come  before  Him  with  burnt  offerings,  with 
calves  of  a  year  old?  Will  the  Lord  he  pleased 
with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousands  of 
rivers  of  oil?  Shall  I  give  my  first  bom  for  my 
transgressions,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of 
my  soul  ?  ” 

Earthly  riches  of  any  kind  are  contemptible 
when  weighed  in  the  balance  against  the  worth  of 
an  immortal  soul.  Though  one  could  possess  the 
riches  of  the  whole  world,  with  all  the  pleasure, 
honour  and  pomp  that  such  great  riches  could  pur¬ 
chase,  and  though  he  were  so  constituted  that  he 
could  enjoy  all  these  things  to  their  utmost,  yet  he 


REDEMPTION 


107 


must  die,  and,  if  his  soul  is  lost,  of  what  value  are 
all  his  riches?  If  riches  are  of  so  little  value  to 
give  enduring  happiness,  of  what  value  would  they 
be  to  redeem  the  soul  ? 

Men’s  souls  are  immortal,  and  since  they  are  im¬ 
mortal  there  is  no  material  thing  that  possesses 
enough  value  to  redeem  them.  An  immortal  soul 
must  be  redeemed  by  an  immortal  sacrifice.  Life 
must  be  given  for  life. 

“Vain  conversation.”  “Vanity  of  vanities, 
saith  the  preacher,  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity.” 
Yea  all  our  works  are  sin  and  death  till  God 
breathes  upon  us  his  quickening  Spirit.  The  wise 
man  sought  after  mirth,  and  pleasure,  “  this  also 
was  vanity;”  he  gave  himself  to  wine  and  folly; 
he  made  great  works,  builded  houses,  and  planted 
orchards  and  vineyards;  he  got  servants  and  maid¬ 
ens,  and  had  great  possessions  of  cattle;  he  gath¬ 
ered  silver  and  gold  and  men  and  women  singers 
and  musical  instruments ;  but  when  he  looked  on  all 
his  works  he  declared  that  “  all  was  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit.” 

Yet  vain  men  are  prone  to  follow  the  vain  tradi¬ 
tions  of  those  who  have  gone  before.  Sin  does  not 
become  any  less  sinful  because  its  traditions  are 
inherited.  I  once  knew  a  family  of  young  men 
who  excused  their  neglect  of  God  on  the  ground 
that  their  ancestors  were  sinful.  Their  father, 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather  were  infidels. 
Did  this  excuse  them  ?  By  no  means.  “  What 


108  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


mean  ye  tliat  ye  use  this  proverb,  *  *  *.  The 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  their  children’s 
teeth  are  set  on  edge?  *  *  *  Behold  all  souls 
are  mine;  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the 
soul  of  the  son  is  mine:  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die.” 

If  a  man  cannot  trust  in  his  inheritance  as  a 
valid  excuse  for  his  sins,  neither  can  he  trust  in 
his  possessions  or  even  in  his  own  moral  worth  as 
a  purchase  price  for  his  redemption.  Very  often 
God  strips  a  man  of  all  he  has  and  even  allows  him 
to  sink  deep  in  the  scale  of  immorality  that  he  may 
learn  his  own  weakness  and  insufficiency  and  lean 
alone  on  God. 

Jeremy  Drexelius  says:  “  There  is  a  time  when 
wounds  cause  health  and  temporary  loss  is  gain; 
and  there  are  many  occasions  when  we  are  over¬ 
come  for  our  own  good.  God  sent  Jacob  away  with 
his  thigh  out  of  joint  that  he  might  learn,  and  we, 
through  him,  not  to  trust  in  ourselves  or  our  own 
strength,  nor  yet  in  that  of  others,  hut  to  rely  on 
the  power  and  goodness  of  God  alone.  But  because 
the  sound  man  trusts  in  his  health,  the  strong  in 
his  strength,  the  learned  in  his  learning,  the  rich 
in  his  gold,  the  wise  in  his  wisdom,  and  because  the 
poor  man  hopes  to  be  supported  by  the  rich,  and 
the  weak  by  the  powerful,  therefore  God,  in  the 
perfection  of  His  wisdom,  frequently  removes  all 
these,  that,  when  the  props  on  which  we  used  to 
rest  are  gone,  we  may  learn  to  rest  on  God  alone.” 


XVI 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


“But  ( ye  are  redeemed)  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ , 
as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot.”— I  Peter 


1:19. 


ANY  traditions,  precious  to  the  heart  of 
the  Jews,  clustered  around  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem.  Here  the  sacred  fires 


were  always  burning;  here,  for  many  generations, 
their  ancestors  had  worshiped,  and  upon  its  al¬ 
tars  the  sacrifices  were  continually  offered.  Every 
year  they  congregated  from  far  and  near  to  com¬ 
memorate  the  exode  from  Egypt  and  to  eat  the 
paschal  lamb. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  from  his  earliest  recol¬ 
lection  Peter  had  journeyed  with  his  parents  and 
acquaintances  to  the  holy  city  and  had  listened  with 
wrapt  attention  to  the  old,  but  ever  new,  story  of 
the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  and  of  the  paschal 
lamb  whose  blood,  sprinkled  on  the  posts  and  lin¬ 
tels  of  the  doors,  had  protected  his  ancestors  from 
the  destroying  angel. 

And  now  he  sees  another  Lamb,  a  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world;  he  sees  this 
Lamb  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  in  such  agony 
of  soul  that  His  sweat  is  mingled  with  blood;  he 


110  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


sees  Him  in  the  judgment  hall,  His  hack  lacerated 
by  the  Roman  scourge,  and  His  brow  pierced  with 
the  crown  of  thorns ;  again  he  sees  Him  on  the  cross 
bleeding  from  the  cruel  nail  wounds  in  His  feet 
and  hands  and  the  spear  thrust  in  His  side,  until 
the  last  drop  of  His  blood  is  spilled  upon  the  earth, 
an  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

No  wonder  the  apostle  calls  this  blood  precious. 
No  draught  from  any  fabled  fountain  of  youth 
could  ever  bestow  such  buoyancy  and  life;  no  nec¬ 
tar  of  the  gods  could  impart  such  abundant  im¬ 
mortality;  no  ambrosial  ointment  could  give  such 
fragrance  and  incorruption.  But  why  should  we 
compare  the  “  precious  blood  of  Christ  ”  with  such 
childish  fancies  ?  Why  ?  Because  nature,  all  crea¬ 
tion  and  the  flight  of  human  fancy  all  combined  can 
never  produce  a  figure  that  will  not  sink  into  utter 
childishness  by  the  side  of  so  great  a  wonder. 

“  0  sacred  Head,  now  wounded. 

With  grief  and  shame  weighed  down, 

Now  scornfully  surrounded 

With  thorns,  Thine  only  crown:, 

O  sacred  Head,  what  glory, 

What  bliss,  till  now  was  Thine! 

Yet,  tho’  despised  and  gory, 

I  joy  to  call  Thee  mine.” 

The  Lamb  of  God  was  the  embodiment  of  nobil¬ 
ity,  of  purity,  of  innocence  and  of  perfection.  No 
created  being  could  ever  approach  unto  His  infinite 
glory.  He  is  the  Lily  of  the  Valley,  He  is  the  Rose 
of  Sharon.  In  Him  can  be  found  no  blemish;  as 
a  sacrifice  He  is  perfect.  In  Him  can  be  found 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


111 


no  spot;  as  a  substitute  He  is  all  that  infinite  jus¬ 
tice  demands. 

0  sin-mad  world;  0  world-enamoured  church;  0 
my  own  slow,  short-sighted  heart!  why  art  thou  so 
little  taken  up  with  the  most  beautiful  Flower  that 
ever  the  Paradise  of  God  produced?  FTo  wonder, 
when  his  ecstatic  soul  caught  a  fresh  vision  of 
Christ,  that  Rutherford  exclaimed :  “  Christ  is  a 
well  of  life;  but  who  knoweth  how  deep  it  is  to 
the  bottom  ?  This  soul  of  ours  hath  love,  and  can¬ 
not  but  love  some  fair  one:  and,  oh,  what  a  fair 
one,  what  an  only  one,  what  an  excellent,  lovely, 
ravishing  one,  is  Jesus!  Put  the  beauty  of  ten 
thousand  worlds  of  paradises  like  the  garden  of 
Eden,  in  one;  put  all  trees,  all  flowers,  all  smells, 
all  colours,  all  tastes,  all  joys,  all  sweetness,  all 
loveliness  in  one:  oh,  what  a  fair  and  excellent 
thing  that  would  be?  and  yet  it  would  be  less  to 
that  fair  and  dearest,  well-beloved  Christ,  than  one 
drop  of  rain  to  the  whole  seas,  rivers,  lakes,  and 
fountains  of  ten  thousand  earths.  Oh,  but  Christ 
is  heaven’s  wonder,  and  earth’s  wonder !  ” 

“  The  precious  blood  of  Christ.”  The  blood  is 
the  life.  Without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  re¬ 
mission  of  sins.  Death  annihilates  the  powers  that 
produce  life.  When  God  breathed  into  man  the 
breath  of  life  and  man  became  a  living  soul,  He 
breathed  into  him  divine  life  and  virtue.  Divine 
efficacy  and  grace  are  the  life  of  the  soul,  without 
these  the  soul  dies.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is 


112  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


the  manifestation,  to  sin-blinded,  materialistic  man, 
of  the  fact  of  the  presence  of  grace  to  approach  the 
sinner  and  of  efficacy  to  cleanse,  and  when  this 
blood  flows  through  the  soul,  divine  life  and  virtue 
again  spring  up,  and  the  dead  man  again  becomes 
a  living  soul. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessity  to  the 
liberation  of  captives.  Civilized  nations  have  a  cus¬ 
tom  of  exchanging  prisoners  of  war  on  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  reciprocity,  giving  equal  for  equal.  Sin¬ 
ners  are  blood-guilty.  While  they  have  never  lit¬ 
erally  driven  a  nail  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ, 
yet  they  have  sold  out  to  sin  and  hell,  and  by  acts 
of  rebellion  have  forfeited  the  freedom  which  be¬ 
longs  to  the  children  of  God,  sold  themselves  to  sin 
for  naught.  From  this  captivity  they  must  be 
bought  by  a  gift  as  great  or  greater  than  they.  The 
same  blood  which  they  have  forfeited  by  their  mad 
plunge  into  captivity  is  a  necessity  in  order  that 
the  bolts  of  their  prison  house  may  be  thrown  back 
and  they  may  walk  forth  in  the  glorious  light  and 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  Whom  the  Son,  the 
Blood-Giver,  makes  free,  is  free  indeed. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessity  in  order 
that  men  may  be  resurrected  from  the  death  of  sin. 
By  a  lack  of  faith  in  their  Creator  (and  He  was 
the  Word)  men  went  away  from  God  and  died  the 
death  of  sin ;  by  the  same  route,  reversed,  they  must 
return  to  God,  that  is  by  faith.  If  unbelief 
brought  sinful  death,  if  the  departure  of  an  of- 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


113 


fended  Trinity  left  men  dead  in  trespasses  and  in 
sins,  on  the  contrary,  the  turning  again  of  His  face, 
the  coming  again  of  God  to  the  believing  soul,  is 
life.  And  the  only  thing  that  can  turn  the  face  of 
an  offended  Deity  toward  an  offending  man  is  the 
reconciling  blood  of  Christ.  And  the  same  blood 
that  washes  away  the  sin-spots  and  kisses  away  the 
death  and  condemnation  of  the  soul,  makes  it  pos¬ 
sible  that  the  graves  of  the  saints  shall  fly  open  and 
that  the  redeemed  shall  come  forth  to  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  life.  “  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in 
Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  every  man  in 
his  own  order:  Christ  the  first-fruits;  afterwards 
they  that  are  Christ’s  at  His  coming.” 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessity  to  save 
men  from  the  curse  of  the  law.  The  law  pro¬ 
nounces  the  death  penalty  on  all  who  sin,  and,  since 
all  have  sinned,  all  are  under  the  curse  of  the  law. 
A  remedy  must  be  found  or  there  is  no  escape  from 
the  consequences  of  sin.  Practically  all  nations 
have  had  a  more  or  less  distinct  view  of  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  a  vicarious  atonement,  and,  as  a  conse¬ 
quence,  they  offer  their  sacrifices  of  beasts  and 
human  beings.  Even  Caiaphas  admitted  that  it 
was  fitting  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  sins  of 
the  people. 

Marcus  Curtius  was  a  legendary  Roman  hero 
who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century  be¬ 
fore  Christ.  The  haruspices  declared  that  an  earth¬ 
quake  chasm  in  the  Forum  could  be  filled  only  by 


114  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


casting  into  it  that  on  which  the  greatness  of  Rome 
depended.  While  everyone  was  doubting  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  declaration,  Marcus  Curtius  pre¬ 
sented  himself  and  declared  that  Rome  contained 
nothing  more  indispensable  to  her  greatness  than  a 
valiant  citizen  fully  accoutred  for  battle,  and  of¬ 
fered  himself  for  a  victim.  Having  arrayed  him¬ 
self  in  complete  armor,  he  mounted  his  war  horse, 
and  galloped  into  the  abyss,  which  immediately 
closed  and  assumed  its  wonted  aspect. 

Jesus  Christ  gave  Himself  a  ransom  for  many, 
and  by  being  Himself  made  a  curse  He  saved  those 
who  were  under  the  just  curse  of  the  law. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessity  to  save 
us  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  the  devil. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the  old  saying  that 
if  one  can  find  out  what  the  devil  wants  the  path 
of  duty  lies  in  the  opposite  direction.  It  makes  no 
difference  to  the  devil  how  many  things  we  do. 
We  can  have  the  gift  of  prophecy  and  understand 
all  mysteries,  we  can  give  all  our  goods  to  feed  the 
poor  and  our  bodies  to  be  burned,  and  yet  the  devil 
is  pleased  if  we  lack  the  one  thing  necessary,  the 
love  of  God,  not  divinely  given  love  alone, — divine 
love  itself.  When  it  concerns  humanity  there  is  no 
greater,  no  richer  manifestation  of  divine  love  than 
the  blood  of  the  Only-Begotten.  If  we  can  get  hold 
of  this  medium  of  communication  between  a  needy 
soul  and  a  need-supplying  God  we  are  forthwith 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


115 


out  of  the  clutches  of  our  arch-enemy  and  into  the 
hands  of  a  loving  God. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessity  in  order 
to  escape  the  wrath  of  God.  Not  that  His  wrath 
must  be  appeased  by  the  death  of  His  Well- 
Beloved,  but  the  death  of  Christ  is  the  highest  ex¬ 
hibition  of  the  love  of  God  yearning  for  some  con¬ 
sistent  plan  of  salvation.  Some  plan  by  which  God 
can  escape  the  moral  necessity  of  punishing  the  sin¬ 
ner.  Divine  love  and  ingenuity  found  this  plan  in 
the  sacrifice  of  the  One,  to  us,  most  glorious,  the 
central  figure  in  the  adorable  Godhead,  Jesus 
Christ. 

"Oh,  for  such  love  let  rocks  and  hills 
Their  lasting  silence  break, 

And  all-harmonious  human  tongues 
The  Saviour’s  praises  speak.” 


•XVII 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 

“But  (ye  are  redeemed)  with  the  'precious  Hood  of  Christ, 
as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot.” — I  Peter 
1:19. 


IT  was  Peter  who  called  attention  to  the  with¬ 
ering  of  the  %  tree  which  Jesus  had  cursed. 
The  mind  of  the  fisherman  grasped  the  fact 
of  the  curse,  for  he  had  been  trained  in  the  old  law, 
but  it  did  not  catch  the  other  lesson  which  Jesus 
desired  to  teach, — all  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  believeth.  Both  lessons  are  helpful,  the  one 
to  that  timid  soul  who  trembles  in  sight  of  the 
awful  majesty  of  God,  and  the  other  to  those  bold 
souls  who  presume  to  rush  into  the  presence  of  God 
as  a  horse  rushes  into  battle,  but  take  little  heed 
to  their  lives  and  spirit. 

A  fruitless  life,  as  well  as  a  fruitless  tree,  is  use¬ 
less  and  accursed.  Justice  demanded  the  death  of 
the  barren  fig  tree,  mercy  prevailed  and  it  was 
spared.  Justice  demands  the  death  of  every  im¬ 
penitent  sinner,  mercy  and  love  prevail  and  they 
are  spared. 

Now  mercy  and  truth  meet  together,  and  right¬ 
eousness  and  peace  kiss  each  other,  but  it  will  not 

always  be  thus.  At  the  judgment  justice  will  pre- 

116 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


117 


vail  and  mercy  towards  the  impenitent  will  be  un¬ 
known.  The  results  which  flow  from  the  lives  of 
every  individual  will  then  be  gathered  up  and  re¬ 
ward  or  punishment  will  be  meted  out  accordingly. 
Benjamin  Pomeroy  says,  “  Human  existence  is  not 
a  chain  of  so  many  links,  but  a  network — a  woven 
web  running  through  the  ages  and  dispensations — 
relation  intersecting  relation,  relation  crossing  re¬ 
lation — a  perfect  network;  so  that,  although  an  in¬ 
dividual  is  taken  away  by  death  to  another  sphere, 
he  is  only  removed  as  the  fountain.  The  streams 
are  left,  and  left  flowing.  A  stream  sent  out  from 
its  fountain,  either  literal  or  moral,  is  only  in¬ 
debted  to  its  fountain  for  its  origin  and  outlet ;  the 
flowing  is  its  own,  independent  of  its  fountain. 
The  closing  of  a  fountain  may  be  but  a  trifle,  but 
who  is  equal  to  the  streams?  Who  can  say  to  the 
distant  outlettings,  ‘  Return  ye,’  and  it  is  done  ? 
To  prostrate  the  individual,  and  hush  him  still  in 
death,  is  quickly  done,  but  gather  him  up!  Oh, 
when  can  he  be  gathered  up?  For  he  has  gone  out 
in  word  and  act, — in  soul  emittings — in  moral 
breath !  ” 

We  are  now  living  in  the  only  world  in  which 
redemption  can  be  secured.  The  inexorable  laws 
of  justice  have  been  turned  aside  by  the  Almighty’s 
gift  of  an  Almighty  Sacrifice.  Infinite  justice 
could  only  be  satisfied  by  an  infinite  sacrifice,  in¬ 
finite  mercy  could  be  secured  only  by  the  payment 
of  an  infinite  price,  and,  thank  God !  we  have  both 


118  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


in  the  Christ  who  trod  the  wine-press  alone.  The 
devil  went  to  the  depth  of  infernal  ingenuity  to 
ruin  man,  and  Jesus  Christ  went  to  the  length  of 
divine  power  to  redeem  him. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  makes  possible  a 
change  in  the  divine  attitude  towards  man,  and 
while  it  makes  possible  the  redemption  of  men  it 
also  enhances  the  majesty  of  the  law.  To  see  the 
almighty  Christ  suffer  because  of  the  sins  of  the 
world  is  a  visible  proof  that  the  law  of  God  cannot 
be  violated  with  impunity,  and  should  warn  every 
careless  trifler  that  he  should  flee  sin  as  he  would 
a  venomous  reptile. 

Christianity  without  blood  is  like  a  cloud  with¬ 
out  water,  or  a  stove  without  fire.  Such  a  religion 
is  a  promise  without  power  or  fulfilment,  it  is  the 
letter,  comely  and  symmetrical  when  viewed  from 
without,  but  lacking  the  Spirit  and  possessing  no 
saving  efficacy.  The  “  new  religion,”  the  religion 
which  has  been  evolved  by  modern  thought,  con¬ 
temns  the  idea  of  blood-redemption  as  revolting, 
but  such  an  evolutionary  religion  as  this  leaves  the 
soul  untouched,  and  does  not  change  one  unholy 
tendency. 

There  are  four  powers  possessed  by  healthy 
blood,  which  are  directly  or  indirectly  noted  in 
nearly  every  physiology,  and  which  illustrate  the 
powers  of  the  “  most  precious  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.” 

1.  “  The  blood  is  the  life.”  These  are  the 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


119 


words  of  the  great  lawgiver  of  Israel,  who  again 
says,  “For  it  (The  blood)  is  the  life  of  all  flesh; 
the  blood  of  it  is  for  the  life  thereof :  *  *  *  for 
the  life  of  all  flesh  is  the  blood  thereof.”  No  scien¬ 
tist  has  ever  been  able  to  give  a  satisfactory  defini¬ 
tion  of  life,  and  until  they  are  able  to  do  so  they 
must  pardon  credulous  persons  if  they  are  foolish 
enough  to  think  that  Moses  got  an  intimation  from 
God,  and  gave  a  real  definition,  God’s  own  defini¬ 
tion.  After  all,  does  not  every  person  know  that 
in  proportion  as  our  blood  escapes  in  that  same  pro¬ 
portion  our  strength  decays  and  death  advances? 

In  like  manner  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
life  of  the  soul,  and  in  proportion  as  we  partake 
of  this  blood,  in  the  same  proportion  we  become 
strong  and  are  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  grace,  for 
His  blood  is  drink  indeed. 

2.  Blood  is  purifying.  One  great  office  of  the 
blood  is  to  carry  away  the  effete  or  wornout  mattes 
and  replace  it  with  new  and  vigourous  material. 
When  the  blood  ceases  to  do  this  the  body  decays 
and  death  swiftly  follows.  The  multitude  of  re¬ 
deemed  ones  who  came  out  of  the  great  tribulations 
were  those  who  had  washed  their  robes  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Those  who 
walk  in  the  light  realize  that  the  “  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  His  Son,  cleanses  from  all  sin,”  and  they 
sing  praises  “  unto  Him  that  loved  us  and  washed 
us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood.” 

3.  Blood  is  upbuilding.  Let  the  body  be 


120  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


wasted  and  emaciated  by  fever  or  any  sickness,  but 
if  the  blood  is  good  the  damage  is  quickly  repaired, 
and  in  many  cases  the  last  estate  is  better  than 
the  first.  Thus,  when  the  blood  of  Jesus  courses 
through  the  poor,  emaciated  human  soul,  the  bones 
which  are  broken  begin  to  rejoice,  the  desert  blos¬ 
soms  as  the  rose,  it  rejoices  even  with  joy  and  sing¬ 
ing,  yea,  the  righteous  flourish  as  a  palm  tree,  they 
grow  as  a  cedar  in  Lebanon,  they  are  fat  and  flour¬ 
ishing,  they  still  bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age.  This 
may  be  a  mixed  metaphor,  but  what  simple  meta¬ 
phor  can  anywhere  near  express  the  glorious  truth  ? 
We  must  turn  again  to  the  men  of  inspiration. 
The  apostle  prays  that  God  may  “  through  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect 
in  every  good  work  to  do  His  will.”  Christ  gave 
Himself  for  the  church  “  that  He  might  sanctify 
and  cleanse  it — (making)  it  a  glorious  church — 
holy  and  without  blemish.” 

4.  Blood  is  strength-giving.  Cases  are  on  rec¬ 
ord  of  persons,  who,  through  loss  of  blood,  were 
about  to  die,  when  not  only  life  but  health  and 
strength  were  given  by  the  infusion  of  healthy 
blood.  My  strength  was  almost  gone,  death  had 
boasted  of  the  near-approaching  victory  over  my 
soul;  despondent  and  sad,  yet  hoping  against  hope 
I  peered  through  the  gathering  gloom,  when,  lo, 
before  my  astonished  sight  a  crimson  stream  ap¬ 
peared.  My  poor  heart  bounded  with  gladness,  its 
door,  so  long  bolted  and  ivy-covered,  flew  open,  and 


THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD 


121 


over  my  enraptured,  astonished  soul  flowed  the 
warm,  strength-giving  current;  I  arose,  my  ankle 
bones  received  new  strength,  my  sadness  fled  and 
the  power  of  the  Lord  pulsated  within. 

“I  awoke,  my  dungeon  flamed  with  light; 

My  chains  fell  off,  my  heart  was  free, 

I  arose,  went  forth,  and  followed  Thee.” 

And  now  I  am  enabled  to  overcome  hy  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb  and  the  word  of  my  testimony.  Glory 
be  to  God ! 

There  are  three  things  which  the  Bible  declares 
are  accomplished  by  the  blood  which  we  wish  to 
notice.  These  things  in  some  ways  are  much  alike, 
but  since  they  technically  differ  we  will  separate 
them,  but  if  you  wish  to  confuse  the  three,  be  sure 
your  experience  encompasses  the  three,  and  the 
error  of  the  intellect  will  be  forgiven. 

1.  “  It  is  the  blood  that  maketh  an  atonement 
for  the  soul.”  We  were  far  from  God,  dead  in 
sins,  and  aliens  to  the  covenant  of  grace ;  God  could 
not  approach  us,  for  His  coming  would  mean  death. 
What  could  be  done  ?  J esus  Christ  stepped  be¬ 
tween,  He  became  our  Mediator,  our  Daysman,  our 
At-onement,  for  that  is  what  the  word  means.  He 
made  it  possible  that  God  could  approach  man  and 
yet  that  man  should  live,  and  He  made  it  possible 
for  man  to  approach  God  and  be  accepted. 

2.  “  Without  the  shedding  of  blood  is  no  re¬ 
mission.”  Some  imagine  that  they  can  bury  their 
past  sins  in  their  religious  activities  and  charitable 


122  THE  FISHEEMAN  OF  GALILEE 


works;  but  sucb  an  endeavour  is  like  bandaging  a 
cancer  and  believing  it  is  healed.  The  core  of  the 
ugly  thing  is  still  eating  into  the  vitals.  The  only 
hope  is  in  complete  removal.  The  only  hope  for 
forgiveness  for  past  sins  lies,  not  in  righteous 
works,  but  in  the  efficacious  blood. 

3.  “  Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  Thy 

blood.”  Man  was  so  irretrievably  lost  that  eternity 
had  but  one  redemption  price;  how  freely  that  was 
given  we  can  never  know,  or  how  great  was  the 
Gift  we  can  never  tell. 

“None  of  the  ransomed  ever  knew 
How  deep  were  the  waters  crossed; 

Or  how  dark  was  the  night  that  the  Lord  passed  through 
Ere  He  found  His  sheep  that  was  lost.” 

Those  who  despised  Moses’  law  died  without 
mercy,  but  those  who  tread  under  foot  the  Son  of 
God,  and  count  the  blood  of  the  covenant  where¬ 
with  they  were  sanctified  as  an  unholy  thing,  are 
worthy  of  much  sorer  punishment.  Oh,  my  friend, 
let  us  flee  to  the  blood  and  hide,  and  there  we  will 
be  safe;  but  if  the  blood  shall  testify  against  us 
not  even  eternity  can  remove  the  remorse. 


XVIII 


THE  SPOTLESS  LAMB 

“A  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot:  who  verily 
was  foreordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  but  was 
manifest  in  these  last  times  for  you,  who  by  him  do  believe 
in  God,  that  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  and  gave  him 
glory ;  that  your  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God  .” — I  Peter 
1:19*21. 


ONE  day  J esus  asked  the  disciples  the  opin¬ 
ions  of  the  people  as  to  whom  He  was. 
After  hearing  the  various  answers,  He 
asked,  “  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  ”  Peter,  al¬ 
ways  ready  with  an  answer,  quickly  replied,  “  Thou 
are  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.”  To 
which  J esus  replied,  “  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Barjona:  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  hut  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.” 

A  faith  that  could  look  beyond  the  flesh  and  be¬ 
hold  divinity  was  worthy  of  praise;  a  faith  that 
can  pierce  the  dark  veil  that  hides  the  supernatural 
from  our  eyes,  and  detect  the  presence  and  work¬ 
ings  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  is  worthy  of  double 
honour. 

There  is  no  selfishness  in  the  knowledge  of 

Christ.  When  Peter  learned  the  real  character  of 

the  Christ  he  desired  to  impart  his  knowledge  to 

others.  And  in  the  verses  before  us  he  attempts 

123 


124  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


a  description  that  will  enable  ns  to  locate  the  Lamb 
of  God.  Beginning  with  the  ceremonial  represen¬ 
tation, — the  sacrificial  lamb, — he  proceeds  in  an 
ever-ascending  scale  nntil  he  reaches  the  reason  for 
the  manifestation  of  Christ, — that  onr  hope  and 
faith  might  he  in  God. 

Oh,  that  my  soul  may  have  eyes  to  see  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world! 
And  that,  seeing  him,  I  may  be  enabled  to  drink 
in  of  His  nature  as  I  would  the  cooling  waters  of 
a  bubbling  spring  in  a  parched  and  desert  waste ! 

Reader,  do  you  desire  to  see  Him?  Then  allow 
me,  with  J ohn  the  Baptist,  to  say,  “  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.” 

1.  Christ  is  here  described  as  a  spotless,  sacri¬ 
ficial  Lamb.  “  A  lamb  without  blemish  and  with¬ 
out  spot.”  No  other  kind  of  a  lamb  was  cere¬ 
monially  acceptable,  and  God  could  do  no  less  than 
present  a  spotless  sacrifice.  Even  Pilate  must  con¬ 
fess,  “  I  find  no  fault  in  Him.”  Neither  the  rab¬ 
ble,  the  false  witnesses,  the  Pharisees  nor  the 
priests  could  find  anything  worthy  of  censure. 
They  did  not  crucify  Him  because  of  His  sins,  but 
because  of  His  good  works  and  the  fact  that  He 
told  them  the  truth. 

2.  This  sacrificial  Lamb  was  foreordained  of 
God.  “  Who  verily  was  foreordained  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.”  The  omniscient  God 
foresaw  the  awful  degradation  of  the  human  race, 


THE  SPOTLESS  LAMB 


125 


and  His  great  heart  determined  on  a  remedy. 
Some  say  that  God  could  have  arbitrarily  saved 
sinners,  or  that  He  could  have  saved  them  by  some 
other  means  than  the  death  of  His  Son;  hut  let 
them  search  the  entire  volume  of  Holy  Writ  and 
they  will  not  find  one  thing  to  hear  them  out  in 
their  statement.  On  the  contrary,  from  beginning 
to  end,  in  teachings,  in  prophecies,  in  types  and  in 
ceremonies,  but  one  thing  appears  as  a  remedy  for 
sin — a  bloody  sacrifice. 

The  great  heart  of  the  Almighty  saw  the  only 
remedy,  and  even  before  the  transgression  deter¬ 
mined  the  course  He  would  pursue, — He  would 
give  His  Son,  His  well-beloved,  His  only-begotten 
Son,  He  would  offer  Him  as  a  sacrifice,  and  this 
sacrifice  should  he  holy  and  acceptable.  Jesus 
Christ  was  “  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world/’  and  Abel  could  take  his  lamb  and  approach 
God  with  as  great  confidence  as  though  he  had  lived 
in  the  days  of  Peter  and  Paul. 

True,  there  was  more  or  less  of  the  shadow  or 
type  in  ancient  worship,  but  when  God  accepted  a 
soul  it  was  just  as  acceptable  as  at  any  time  since. 
We  cannot  tell  the  religious  exercises  of  the  an¬ 
cients,  hut  we  do  know  that  if  they  gained  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  God,  they  had  His  approval  the  same  as 
we,  for  God  has  always  abundantly  pardoned. 

The  provision  for  this  acceptance  was  conceived 
in  the  heart  of  God  even  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  and  was  operative  as  soon  as  a  soul  was 


126  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


found  that  needed  help,  and  we  hear  God  saying  to 
the  guilty  pair,  “  The  seed  of  the  woman  shall 
bruise  the  serpent’s  head.” 

Oh,  wondrous  grace!  My  mighty  sins  did  not 
separate  me  from  hope,  but  on  the  contrary  these 
very  sins  brought  forth  from  the  heart  of  God  that 
spirit  of  compassion,  foreordained,  indeed,  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  but  only  needed  be¬ 
cause  I  have  sinned.  He  knew  I  would  sin,  He  de¬ 
termined  that  I  might  escape  my  sins.  He  knew 
that  hell  was  my  just  portion,  but  His  mercy  con¬ 
quered  justice  and  I  am  saved.  Thank  God  for 
His  matchless  grace ! 

3.  The  sacrificial  Lamb  was  manifested  in  the 
gospel  age.  “  But  was  manifested  in  these  last 
times  for  you/'  The  prophets  prophesied  until 
John,  but  John  cried,  “  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.”  John  the 
apostle  could  say,  “  The  word  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory.” 

J esus  said,  “  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father  also.”  In  Him  all  fulness  dwelt,  and  in 
Him  was  manifested  the  glory  of  the  Father.  This 
glory,  in  the  fulness  of  its  revelation,  was  kept  back 
from  the  ancients,  but  burst  forth  in  all  its  splen¬ 
dour  on  the  astonished  vision  of  the  waiting 
disciples. 

No  wonder  the  happy  company  in  the  upper  room 
acted  like  drunken  men.  To  them  had  been  re¬ 
vealed  that  remarkable  grace  which  had  been  hid- 


THE  SPOTLESS  LAMB 


127 


den  in  the  heart  of  God  since  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  Such  an  event  and  such  a  revelation 
could  not  be  commonplace,  and  its  results  could  not 
be  so  trivial  as  to  lightly  effect  the  recipients.  As 
wave  after  wave  of  celestial  glory  streamed  through 
their  astonished  souls  their  shouts  of  joy  aroused 
the  populace,  who  rushed  together  and  said,  “  These 
men  are  full  of  new  wine.” 

This  revelation  is  not  for  Peter  and  his  asso¬ 
ciates  alone,  but  in  this  place  the  fisherman  disciple, 
writing  to  the  members  of  the  general  church,  de¬ 
clares  that  it  is  for  them, — and  that  includes  me. 

4.  Jesus  Christ,  the  sacrificial  lamb,  is  the 
means  by  which  we  believe  in  God.  “  Who  by  Him 
do  believe  in  God  ”  We  sing, 

“The  whole  world  was  lost  in  the  darkness  of  sin; 

The  light  of  the  world  is  Jesus: 

Like  sunshine  at  noonday  His  glory  shone  in, 

The  light  of  the  world  is  Jesus.” 

Without  Jesus  Christ  our  hearts  and  minds  are  too 
dark  to  even  catch  the  idea  of  the  infinite  God. 
Men  are  groping  in  the  awful  darkness  of  sin  and 
superstition,  vainly  attempting  to  fathom  the  great 
hereafter,  but  without  Christ  their  minds  become 
more  and  more  dense,  and  their  hope  all  the  more 
hopeless. 

With  boundless,  fathomless  pity  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  seeing  our  helpless  condition,  flew  to  our  re¬ 
lief,  brushed  away  the  veil  that  hung  between,  and 
gave  us  a  vision  of  the  Infinite;  cleared  away  the 


128  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


fogs  from  our  darkened  minds  and  gave  us  an  un¬ 
derstanding;  and  removed  the  pall  of  darkness  that 
enshrouded  our  hearts,  and  gave  us  the  ability  to 
believe  God  to  the  saving  of  our  souls. 

5.  The  sacrificial  lamb  was  raised  from  the 
dead.  “  That  raised  Him  up  from  the  dead 
Paul  says,  “  If  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is 
vain.”  If  Christ  was  still  among  the  dead  what 
assurance  would  we  have  that  He  could  help  us? 
We  might  still  be  hurling  at  Him  the  old  Jewish 
taunt,  “  He  saved  others,  Himself  He  cannot  save,” 
and  seeing  Him  impotent,  we  would  refuse  to  ac¬ 
cept  Him.  But  He  became  the  first-fruits  of  those 
who  slept,  He  conquered  death,  He  led  captivity 
captive,  and  since  He  has  done  all  this  we  can  be¬ 
lieve  that  He  is  able  to  help  us  and  that  He  will 
give  us  a  glorious  resurrection  and  a  blessed  im¬ 
mortality. 

Then,  His  resurrection  was  a  necessity  to  the 
completion  of  the  plan  of  redemption.  Death  as 
well  as  the  devil  must  be  conquered.  The  fact  is 
that  to  be  a  redeemer  He  must  meet  every  force 
that  would  militate  against  the  salvation  of  those 
He  came  to  redeem,  and,  meeting  them,  He  must 
conquer,  or  His  redemption  would  be  vain.  The 
last  enemy  is  death,  and  death  must  be  vanquished. 
How  well  He  succeeded  we  can  never  know,  but 
He  met  death  on  its  own  territory  and  conquered. 
He  robbed  death  of  its  fangs,  and  the  saint  ex- 


THE  SPOTLESS  LAMB 


129 


claims,  “  0  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  Grave, 
where  is  thy  victory  ?  ” 

6.  The  sacrificial  lamb,  being  resurrected  from 
the  dead,  was  given  glory.  In  this  world  He  was 
a  man  of  sorrows;  in  this  world  He  became  obedi¬ 
ent;  in  the  future  world,  as  well  as  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  at  present,  He  will  be  and  is  glorified. 
Angels  may  well  look  on  and  wonder,  archangels 
may  well  hide  their  faces  from  the  effulgent  light 
of  His  infinite  glory,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect  may  well  shout  in  adoration  of  Him 
who  has  washed  them  in  His  own  blood. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  heavenly  hosts  find 
abundant  reasons  for  mighty  rejoicings  and  tumul¬ 
tuous  praises  as  the  Almighty  unfolds  before  their 
astonished  gaze  the  councils  of  His  will  and  the 
glories  of  His  person ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  there 
can  be  no  greater  cause  for  amazement  than  the 
sight  of  the  great  Being  who  could  tread  the  wine¬ 
press  alone,  and  who  could,  by  His  own  power  and 
by  the  strength  of  His  own  right  arm,  regenerate 
and  sanctify  a  poor,  lost,  degraded,  fallen  human 
spirit,  and  so  renew  it  that  it  should  shine  in  holi¬ 
ness  and  righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and 
ever. 

O  Christ,  with  angels  and  archangels,  and  with 
all  the  company  of  heaven,  may  I  laud  and  magnify 
Thy  holy  name ! 

7.  All  this  work  and  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  was 
undergone  that  our  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God. 


130  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


It  is  well  that  our  faith  and  hope  are  not  in  the 
things  of  the  world,  for  the  world  passes  away  and 
the  lusts  thereof ;  hut  instead  we  are  so  securely  an¬ 
chored  in  God  that 

“  When  the  storms  of  life  are  raging, 

And  the  billows  tossing  high,” 

we  have  a  rock  in  which  we  can  hide  and  be 
secure. 

And  why  should  we  murmur  at  the  trials  and 
afflictions  of  the  way?  How  do  we  know  but  that 
the  loving  Father  has  appointed  these  things  be¬ 
cause  He  knows  that  they  are  a  necessity  to  our 
eternal  salvation,  even  as  winds  and  waves  are  a 
necessity  to  waft  the  ocean  bark  to  its  desired 
haven.  Some  one  has  said,  “  What  if  we  should  be 
visited  with  sickness,  threatened  with  false  accusa¬ 
tions,  perhaps  with  accidents  ?  Our  trust  is  in  God, 
our  dependence  upon  Him :  and  who  knows  but  the 
divine  wisdom  has  made  choice  of  these  afflictions 
as  the  means  to  bring  us  to  eternal  glory  ?  ” 


XIX 


OBEDIENCE  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

“  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the  truth 
through  the  Spirit  unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren,  see 
that  ye  love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart  fervently.’’ — 
I  Peter  1:22. 

WHEN  the  day  of  Pentecost  had  fully 
come  the  Spirit  descended  on  the 
upper-room  company  like  a  rushing, 
mighty  wind,  and  filled  all  the  place  where  they 
were  sitting.  Every  heart  was  a  flame  of  love. 
Those  mighty  joys  were  too  great  for  such  straight¬ 
ened  quarters,  and,  rushing  into  the  streets,  they 
began  to  tell  what  great  things  God  had  done  for 
them. 

When  the  multitude  had  gathered  together, 
Peter,  the  Galilean  fisherman,  transformed  and 
Spirit-filled,  preached  one  of  the  greatest  sermons 
that  human  lips  have  ever  uttered.  As  a  result  of 
this  glorious  manifestation  of  power  three  thousand 
souls  were  added  to  the  church. 

If  we  should  ask  a  reason  for  all  this  commotion 
and  these  signal  triumphs,  Peter,  with  his  charac¬ 
teristic  simplicity,  says  that  it  was  because  God  had 

purified  their  hearts  by  faith.  An  excellent  reason, 

131 


132  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


for  purity  always  produces  a  stir,  causing  heaven 
to  rejoice  and  the  pillars  of  hell  to  tremble. 

0  God,  Thou  hast  caused  us  to  understand  that 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  is  not  to  be  found  in  mere 
scholastic  attainments,  nor  in  excellency  of  speech ; 
on  the  contrary,  Thou  canst  take  the  worm  that  lies 
submissive  in  Thy  hands  and  make  it  a  sharp 
threshing  instrument  having  teeth,  and  with  it 
Thou  canst  beat  the  mountains  and  make  them  as 
the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing  floor.  Yea, 
Thou  canst  use  base  things  to  confound  the  mighty, 
and  things  which  are  not  Thou  canst  use  to  bring 
to  naught  the  things  which  are.  Since  these  things 
are  true,  wilt  Thou,  oh,  my  God,  in  Thine  amazing 
kindness,  deluge  our  unworthy,  but  waiting,  recep¬ 
tive  souls  with  Thy  glorious,  sin-consuming,  won¬ 
der-working  presence ! 

But  this  power  comes  only  in  the  line  of  obedi¬ 
ence  and  faith.  Faith  accepts  the  glorious  truth 
that  God  has  wrought  for  and  will  work  in  us  to 
will  and  to  do  of  His  own  good  pleasure,  while 
obedience  bridges  the  chasm  on  man’s  side  and 
walks  in  the  light  of  God’s  requirements;  the  two 
are  a  link,  coupling  a  man  and  his  God,  and  bring¬ 
ing  the  man  into  such  contact  with  the  heavenly 
powers  that  excellent  results  are  produced,  both  in 
his  own  life  and  in  the  lives  of  others. 

The  central  thought  of  the  verse  before  us  is 
obedience  and  its  results. 

The  object  of  obedience  is  the  truth.  The  mere 


OBEDIENCE  AND  ITS  RESULTS  133 


following  of  ceremonials  and  ordinances,  be  they 
commanded  in  the  most  absolute  terms,  and  though 
the  obedience  is  never  so  perfect,  is  not  the  object 
of  obedience,  that  object  is  the  truth — to  obey  the 
truth  is  to  save  the  soul.  Jesus  declares,  “  I  am 
the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life.”  Hence  in  obeying 
the  truth  we  obey  Jesus  Christ. 

The  agent  of  obedience,  or  that  which  makes 
obedience  possible  and  acceptable  to  God  is  the 
Holy  Spirit.  We  can  fulfil  all  the  forms  of  the 
commandments  of  God  with  the  strictness  of  a  Paul 
who  could  testify  that  touching  the  law  he  was 
blameless,  and  yet  be  so  void  of  genuine  obedience 
that  in  the  sight  of  God  all  our  works  are  but  filthy 
rags.  But  when  the  Holy  Spirit  indicts  our  works 
the  very  least  becomes  acceptable  and  worthy  of 
reward. 

The  end  or  aim  of  obedience  we  are  taught  is 
twofold.  First,  the  purification  of  the  soul;  and, 
second,  the  love  of  the  brethren. 

The  question  might  be  asked,  How  does  obedi¬ 
ence  purify  the  soul  ?  In  reply  we  will  say :  When 
a  person  begins  to  obey  God  disobedience  becomes  a 
thing  of  the  past,  and  with  the  passing  of  disobedi¬ 
ence  sin  is  removed,  for  there  can  be  no  sin  with¬ 
out  the  element  of  disobedience. 

Again,  when  the  desire  for  obedience  is  brought 
forth  in  the  soul,  of  necessity  there  arises  a  desire 
that  the  soul  may  be  delivered  from  those  principles 
or  things  which  hinder  or  retard  obedience.  In 


134  THE  FISHEEMAN  OF  GALILEE 


such  a  place  the  soul  will  discover  that  the  flesh  and 
the  Spirit  are  at  war  with  each  other,  and  be  forced 
to  acknowledge  that  because  of  this  warfare  it  can 
not  do  the  things  that  it  would.  Eealizing  this  con¬ 
dition  of  affairs,  the  spirit  of  obedience  cries  out 
for  deliverance  from  opposing  principles,  and  will 
not  be  content  till  its  desire  is  realized. 

The  spirit  of  obedience  denies  fleshly  lusts  that 
war  against  the  soul,  and  will  eventually  bring  into 
captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

But  obedience  will  simply  be  monkish  mummery 
if  it  is  not  brought  forth  and  carried  on  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  All  our  works  must  be  wrought  in 
us  by  the  indwelling  Comforter,  that  glorious 
Helper  of  our  infirmities. 

That  man  and  his  God  must  work  together  is 
acknowledged  by  all.  The  old  proverbs  run,  “  God 
helps  those  who  help  themselves,”  and  “  Man’s  ex¬ 
tremity  is  God’s  opportunity.”  It  would  surely  be 
absurd  for  me  to  sit  idly  and  expect  the  Lord  to  do 
my  work,  but  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  after  I  do 
my  best,  and  am  still  unable,  God  will  graciously 
fill  out  my  deficiencies  and  finish  the  task. 

If  God  sends  me,  as  He  did  Jonah,  to  a  Nineveh 
appointment,  and  I  faithfully  preach  the  preaching 
that  God  bids  me,  I  have  a  right  to  look  for  the  co¬ 
operation  of  the  Spirit,  with  results  following,  com¬ 
mensurate  with  my  labours  and  God’s  promises. 
Any  results  which  seem  to  be  short  of  this  show 
either  my  lack  of  labour  and  faith,  or  a  misconcep- 


OBEDIENCE  AND  ITS  RESULTS  135 


tion  of  the  promises  of  God,  for  God  always  does 
His  part. 

The  second  aim  of  obedience  is  the  love  of  the 
brethren.  “  But  he  that  saith  he  is  in  the  light,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  is  in  darkness  even  until  now. 
He  that  loveth  his  brother  abideth  in  the  light,  and 
there  is  none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  him.  But 
he  that  hateth  his  brother  is  in  darkness,  and  walk- 
eth  in  darkness,  and  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth, 
because  that  darkness  hath  blinded  his  eyes.  *  *  * 
If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother, 
he  is  a  liar ;  for  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom 
he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath 
not  seen  ?  ” 

“  See  that  ye  love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart 
fervently.”  In  these  words  the  apostle  exhorts  his 
hearers.  One  characteristic  of  a  Christian  is  the 
love  of  the  brethren.  We  naturally  gravitate  to¬ 
wards  that  company  with  which  we  are  in  agree¬ 
ment.  The  old  Jews  were  at  agreement  with  hell, 
such  characters  will  receive  their  reward;  but  the 
saint  of  God  finds  all  his  ransomed  being  at  agree¬ 
ment  with  God  and  righteousness,  and  towards  God 
and  His  saints  he  will  gravitate  as  inevitably  as 
sparks  fly  upward. 

Somewhere  in  God’s  beautiful  home  kindred 
spirits  will  eventually  meet,  drawn  towards  that 
great  central  attraction  as  surely  as  steel  filings  are 
drawn  to  the  magnet;  there  the  harmony  will  be 
complete,  there  we  shall  see  face  to  face,  and,  as 


136  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


never  has  been  possible  before,  fervent  love  will 
unite  every  heart. 

“Oh,  for  that  holy  dawning, 

We’ll  watch  and  wait  and  pray, 

Till  o’er  the  height  the  morning  light 
Will  drive  the  gloom  away; 

And  when  that  heavenly  dawning 
Shall  flood  the  earth  and  sky, 

We’ll  bless  the  Lord  for  all  He  gives, 

And  praise  Him  by  and  by.” 


XX 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 

“  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incor¬ 
ruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for¬ 
ever.” — I  Peteb  1:23. 

THE  old  Jews  were  proud  of  the  fact  that 
they  were  Abraham’s  seed,  and,  as  a  con¬ 
sequence,  heirs  of  the  promise.  They  had 
become  so  used  to  looking  upon  themselves  as  su¬ 
perior  beings  that  when  even  the  Son  of  God  at¬ 
tempted  to  rebuke  them  for  their  sins  He  was  made 
to  pay  the  penalty  for  His  transgression  by  the 
ignoble  death  of  the  cross. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  our  fisherman  disciple, 
along  with  others,  had  imbibed  such  self-righteous, 
“  I-am-holier-than-thou  ”  sentiments,  and  it  meant 
much  for  him  to  learn  that  he  must  place  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  sonship  on  a  different  footing  than  that 
on  which  he  had  been  taught  to  believe  it  rested. 

Much  more  grace  did  it  take  when  it  meant  to 
abandon  Abraham  as  the  head  of  the  spiritual  fam¬ 
ily,  Abraham  the  friend  of  God,  Abraham  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  and  to  substitute  in  his  place 
the  despised,  rejected,  crucified  Son  of  David,  the 
lowly  Nazarene. 

But,  thank  God,  Peter  and  the  other  disciples 

137 


138  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


were  ready  to  make  the  exchange ;  they  chose 
Christ,  and  by  so  doing,  they  exalted  Abraham.  If 
the  Jews  had  been  Abraham’s  spiritual  children  in¬ 
deed,  they  would  have  received  Christ,  for  the  faith 
of  Abraham  was  founded  in  his  most  illustrious 
Son,  whose  day  he  saw  by  faith,  and  rejoiced. 

While  the  Jews  were  Abraham’s  children  by 
natural  ties,  yet,  to  be  his  spiritual  children,  and 
this  means  much  more  than  to  be  his  natural  chil¬ 
dren,  even  they,  through  whose  veins  that  patri¬ 
arch’s  blood  coursed,  must  drink  in  of  the  same 
Spirit  which  he  imbibed,  they  must  partake  of  the 
same  nature  of  which  he  partook. 

But,  because  some  of  them  refused  to  thus  par¬ 
take,  Jesus  rightfully  accused  them  of  being  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  devil;  that  is,  they  drank  in  of  the 
spirit  of  the  devil  which  was  opposition  to  and 
hatred  for  the  Son  of  man. 

To  be  bom  again  is  to  partake  of  another  Spirit. 
A  man  may,  in  a  certain  sense,  be  said  to  be  born 
again  when  his  eyes  are  open  and  he  sees  the  beauty 
and  begins  to  love  art,  nature,  mathematics,  his  fel¬ 
low  man,  or  when  any  of  the  finer  sensibilities  of 
his  nature  are  aroused  to  discern  the  higher  aims 
and  pursuits  of  life. 

But  this  birth  is  very  limited,  indeed,  when  com¬ 
pared  with  the  “  new  birth  ”  of  which  our  text 
treats.  Those  changes  are  all  consistent  with  and 
included  within  the  possibilities  of  the  natural 
man,  while  the  “  new  birth  ”  is  within  but  extends 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 


139 


beyond  the  natural  man  and  encompasses  eternity. 
It  drinks  of  the  spiritual  fountain,  and  that  foun¬ 
tain  is  Christ. 

The  re-birth  of  the  natural  man  is  a  discovery  of 
the  less  degrading  elements  of  a  fallen  soul  (if  less 
degrading  they  may  be  called  when  they  do  not  lead 
Godward),  while  the  “  new  birth  ”  of  the  soul  is  a 
discovery  and  a  reception  of  God,  of  the  God-life. 

The  re-birth  of  the  natural  man  is  all  included 
within  the  capabilities  of  a  fallen,  corruptible  soul, 
and  leaves  the  corruption  just  as  vile  as  ever;  but 
the  “  new  birth  ”  of  the  soul,  while  touching  the 
capabilities  of  the  natural  (not  sinful)  man,  comes 
primarily  from  without;  it  is  the  infusion  of  an 
incorruptible  seed,  and  that  seed  is  Christ. 

The  re-birth  of  the  natural  man  is  a  remolding 
or  refashioning  of  the  fallen  soul,  while  the  “  new 
birth  ”  purifies  and  elevates  the  soul,  and  makes  it 
godlike. 

But  the  passage  before  us  is  more  especially  a 
contrast  between  the  natural  or  physical  birth  and 
the  re-birth  of  the  spirit.  Or  it  may  be  a  contrast 
between  the  Jewish  notions  of  sonship  and  God’s 
ideas  of  sonship. 

The  prevailing  Jewish  idea  of  sonship  was  alto¬ 
gether  natural,  or  of  the  corruptible,  fleshly  na¬ 
ture  ;  or  at  best  the  reception  of  the  spiritual  privi¬ 
leges,  by  inheritance,  which  they  supposed  were 
theirs  by  right  since  they  were  the  children  of 
Abraham. 


140  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


But  in  partaking  of  the  flesh  of  our  parents, — the 
descendants  of  Adam, — we,  through  them,  partake 
of  the  sinful,  corruptible  nature  of  Adam;  this  is 
true  of  the  Jew  as  well  as  of  the  Gentile.  Then 
the  only  boast  the  Jew  could  truthfully  make  was 
in  his  greater  opportunities,  for  he  possessed  the 
true  oracles  of  God. 

But  in  Jesus  Christ  corruptible  seed  is  exchanged 
for  incorruptible.  The  Christian  no  longer  traces 
his  ancestry  through  many  generations  back  to 
Abraham  or  to  Adam;  but  through  Jesus  Christ  he 
is  a  son  of  God,  not  indirectly,  but  directly, — a 
real  son. 

The  first  birth  is  by  the  will  of  man  and  of  man, 
but  the  second  birth  is  by  the  will  of  God.  The 
first  birth  is  so  completely  of  corrupt  man  that  the 
child  is  nothing  but  a  corrupt  man,  totally  de¬ 
praved,  as  the  theologians  say,  possessing  in  a 
greater  or  lesser  degree  all  the  infirmities,  in  kind, 
of  his  parents  ;  but  the  “  new  birth  ”  is  so  com¬ 
pletely  of  God  that  the  child  is  a  son  of  God  with 
the  glorious,  holy  nature  of  his  heavenly  parent. 
He  possesses,  in  a  lesser  degree,  all  the  spiritual 
perfections  of  his  heavenly  Father. 

The  second  birth  is  by  the  Word  of  God,  which 
liveth  and  abideth  forever.  While  those  who  are 
born  of  corruptible  seed  must  die,  those  who  are 
born  of  the  Word  of  God  shall  abide  forever. 

Sorrows  untold  are  an  accompaniment,  or  a 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 


141 


necessary  result  which  follows  the  corruptible  birth, 
but  the  “  new  birth  ”  is  a  birth  of  joy;  ever-increas¬ 
ing,  all-consuming  joy  is  the  heritage  of  a  child  of 
God. 

Lord,  I  believe  that  if  my  soul  fully  follows 
Thee,  Thou  wilt  take  away  my  earth-born  sorrows 
and  fill  me  with  heaven-sent  joy.  Such  joys  are 
not  found  in  the  passing  amusements  of  the  world¬ 
ling,  but  are  as  solid  and  lasting  as  the  everlasting 
hills,  such  joys  are  only  given  to  the  bloodwashed. 
Oh,  the  bliss  of  the  glorious  knowledge !  This 
joy  has  already  begun  in  my  soul,  and  shall  last 
while  eternity  endures. 

Macarius,  the  Egyptian  (350  a.  d.),  describes 
the  joys  of  the  ransomed  in  the  following  words: 

“  At  one  time  they  find  themselves  at  a  royal 
banquet,  filled  with  joy,  and  rejoice  with  gladness 
not  to  be  expressed;  at  another  time  they  are  as  a 
bride,  enjoying  divine  repose  in  the  sweet  com¬ 
munion  and  fellowship  of  the  bridegroom.  At  other 
times  they  are  seemingly  like  angels  without  bodies, 
so  exceeding  light  and  easy  they  feel  themselves 
with  the  body.  At  other  times  they  are  like  men 
overcome  with  wine;  joying  and  rejoicing  in  Spirit, 
and  inebriated  with  divine  and  spiritual  mysteries. 
*  *  *  At  other  times  they  are  so  enflamed  with 
love  by  the  Spirit  that,  were  it  possible,  they  would 
take  up  and  enwrap  all  mankind  in  their  own 
bowels,  making  no  distinction  between  bad  and 
good.  *  *  *  At  other  times  they  are  like  a 


142  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


strong  man  taking  on  him  the  royal  armour,  engag¬ 
ing  his  enemies  in  battle,  and  overcoming  them; 
thus  the  spiritual  man  takes  the  heavenly  armour 
of  the  Spirit  and  wages  war  with  his  enemies  and 
lays  them  flat  at  his  feet.  *  *  * 

“For  when  the  soul  is  once  arrived  to  the  per¬ 
fection  of  the  Spirit,  and  is  thoroughly  cleansed 
from  all  corrupt  affections,  and  united  and  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  Spirit  the  Comforter,  in  a  fellow¬ 
ship  not  to  he  expressed,  and  so  mixed  as  to  become 
one  spirit  with  it,  then  it  is  all  light,  all  eye,  all 
spirit,  all  joy,  all  rest,  all  gladness,  all  love,  all 
compassion,  all  goodness  and  clemency;  for  as  a 
stone  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  is  sourrounded  with 
water,  so  they  who  are  thoroughly  drenched  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  are  made  like  unto  Christ.  *  *  * 
For  being  thoroughly  purified  by  the  Spirit,  how 
can  they  outwardly  produce  evil  fruits:  but  every¬ 
where  and  at  all  times  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  must 
appear  and  shine  forth  in  them.” 


XXI 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 

“  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incor¬ 
ruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for¬ 
ever.” — I  Peter  1:23. 

THIS  matter  of  the  new  birth  is  important, 
and  its  interest  never  fades.  The  grass 
withers,  flowers  fade,  gold  will  tarnish, 
and  the  glory  of  man  will  pass  away  as  the  morning 
cloud,  but  he  who  is  bom  of  God  shall  abide  for¬ 
ever;  his  holy  joys  are  as  the  perennial  flower,  as 
the  flowing  spring,  as  the  glorious  sun  which  goeth 
forth  from  its  chamber  and  rejoices  as  a  strong 
man  to  run  a  race. 

His  joys  are  as  the  gentle  breezes  which  so  grate¬ 
fully  fan  the  brow  of  the  way-weary  traveler,  or 
as  the  mighty  cyclone  which  sweeps  all  before  it; 
they  murmur  as  the  babbling  brooklet  on  its  path 
through  the  meadowlands,  or  rush  as  the  mountain 
torrent  in  its  precipitous  flight;  they  lie  placid  as 
the  crystal,  lily-fringed  lake  nestled  among  the 
hills,  or  surge  as  the  mighty  ocean  against  the  rock- 
bound  shore. 

0  God,  may  these  joys  of  the  ransomed  be  my 
stay  through  all  my  wilderness  journey,  and  may 
I  bask  forever  in  the  home  of  ceaseless  and  im¬ 
mortal  bliss ! 

There  are  a  few  characteristics  of  the  new  birth 

143 


144  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


which  distinguish  it  from  every  other  possible 
transaction  which  may  enter  our  lives. 

The  new  birth  is  extra-physical,  it  is  beyond  or 
above  physical  laws  or  methods.  We  have  grown  so 
accustomed  to  the  laws  of  our  physical  beings  that 
we  seldom  exclaim  with  the  Psalmist,  “  I  am  fear¬ 
fully  and  wonderfully  made.”  But  the  very  nature 
of  the  new  birth  makes  it  so  mysterious  and  inex- 
plainable  that  skeptics  feel  free  to  declare  its  im¬ 
possibility. 

But  those  who  have  experienced  it  know  its  na¬ 
ture  although  they  cannot  fully  describe  it,  for 
human  language  is  not  sufficient. 

Physical  laws  govern  our  physical  natures,  but 
this  new  nature,  or  renewed  nature,  is  governed  by 
laws  peculiar  to  its  own  realm.  Some  of  these  laws 
are  analogous  with  the  laws  of  nature,  but  others 
are  so  exactly  contrary  as  to  bear  no  resemblance. 

Let  us  take  Paul’s  list  of  paradoxes  to  illustrate 
this  point.  But  how  can  these  contradictory  state¬ 
ments  be  reconciled?  You  can  search  your  com¬ 
mentaries  in  vain  for  any  clue  to  their  inside  mean¬ 
ing,  but  I  suppose  every  Bible  student  knows  how 
commentators  will  fail  just  where  it  seems  they 
are  needed  most.  Perhaps  it  is  because  human 
language  fails  to  express  the  depths  of  divine 
things ;  with  some  it  is  doubtless  true  that  the  letter 
is  more  esteemed  than  the  spirit.  Oh,  for  that  God- 
given  power  that  will  enable  us  to  drink  in  of  the 
deep  things  of  God ! 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 


145 


“  As  deceivers,  and  yet  true.”  Unregenerate 
men  are  governed  by  laws  which,  to  them,  are  easy 
of  comprehension.  Under  certain  circumstances 
they  will  do  and  feel  certain  things,  and  under  sim¬ 
ilar  circumstances  they  expect  others  to  do  and  feel 
the  same.  But  true  Christians  are  governed  by 
other  principles,  and  when  sinners  looking  on  ex¬ 
pect  their  inflexible  laws  to  operate,  and  they  do 
not,  they  are  surprised,  and,  because  they  cannot 
conceive  of  any  other  motives  than  their  own,  they 
consider  that  the  Christian  is  a  deceiver.  Hence, 
although  the  saint  of  God  is  true  to  the  very  mar¬ 
row,  yet  he  unwittingly  becomes  a  deceiver,  and 
men  cannot  understand  him  because  he  is  governed 
by  extra-physical,  extra-natural  laws. 

“  As  unknown,  and  yet  well  known.”  Paul 
comes  to  our  rescue.  “  He  that  is  spiritual  judg- 
eth  (margin,  discerneth)  all  things,  yet  he  himself 
is  judged  (margin,  discerned)  of  no  man.”  How 
can  sin-blinded  men  “  know  ”  a  man  who  is  gov¬ 
erned  by  spiritual  laws,  for  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  are  spiritually  discerned  ?  And  yet  the  man 
of  the  world  does  know  the  Christian,  for  his  mo¬ 
tives  and  actions  are  simple  and  artless — easy  of 
comprehension;  it  is  the  Spirit  which  causes  such 
simplicity  that  is  the  unknown  quantity. 

“  As  dying,  and  behold  we  live.”  This  has  a 
partial  parallel  in  the  corn  which  dies  to  reproduce 
itself,  but  the  parallel  fails  to  encompass  the  whole 
matter.  This  man  dies  and  lives  at  the  same  time, 


146  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


lie  does  not  die  to  produce  another  life,  but  dies  and 
at  the  same  time  reproduces  his  own  life.  Paul  to 
the  rescue  again:  “  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life 
is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.”  “  Reckon  yourselves 
to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God.” 
“  I  die  daily.”  In  our  cleansing  we  die  to  sin,  but 
the  earth-clinging  (not  sin-clinging)  still  lingers 
with  us ;  even  this  attachment  to  earth,  to  time,  must 
continually  die,  even  though  that  death  is  produced 
by  persecutions,  by  bereavements,  by  losses,  and  in 
proportion  as  the  earth-life  dies  the  super-life,  the 
heavenly  life  expands  and  grows,  growing  up  into 
Christ  in  all  things.  Dead  and  alive,  dying  and 
living  at  the  same  time— -this  is  God’s,  not  man’s, 
law. 

“  As  chastened,  and  not  killed.”  “  Whom  the 
Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whom  He  receiveth.”  God  chastened,  but  did  not 
destroy,  the  Jewish  nation;  He  chastens  us  that  we 
may  be  partakers  of  His  holiness. 

“  As  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing.”  “  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted.” 
One  of  the  necessary  characteristics  of  the  new 
birth  is  a  chastened,  sorrowful  heart.  The  child  of 
God  remembers  the  hole  of  the  pit  from  whence  he 
was  digged,  but  a  broken  and  contrite  heart  God 
will  not  despise.  But,  thank  God,  this  sorrow  is 
not  like  the  worldling’s  sorrow,  without  hope;  this 
sorrow  opens  the  fountains  of  eternal  joy,  and  in 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 


147 


the  midst  of  manifold  temptations  we  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. 

“  As  poor,  yet  making  many  rich.”  Poor  in 
spirit,  poor  in  this  world’s  goods,  yet  imparting 
heavenly  riches  to  as  many  as  will  listen  to  our 
story.  Blessed  poverty!  Not  monkish  asceticism, 
but  godly  self-denial,  holy  self-abasement,  perfect 
reliance  upon  God;  such  abandonment  of  earthly, 
sinful  good  (pardon  the  contradiction)  will  cause 
any  man  to  be  a  blessing,  to  make  many  rich. 

“  As  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all 
things.”  God  chooses  the  things  which  are  not  to 
bring  to  naught  the  things  which  are.  The  way 
into  the  riches  of  the  Lord  is  down.  Down,  down, 
until  the  worldly,  the  carnal  self -life  is  gone;  until 
you  can  say, 

“  I  nothing  have,  I  nothing  am, 

My  treasure’s  in  the  Bleeding  Lamb 
Both  now  and  evermore.” 

Here  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  with  nothing  to  claim, 
with  no  strength  to  help  yourself,  with  no  goodness 
to  plead,  with  a  vision  of  your  absolute  nothingness 
without  the  Blood,  here  you  possess  all  things,  for 
you  have  Christ. 


XXII 


THE  NEW  BIKTH 

“  Being  torn  again ,  not  of  corruptible  seed ,  but  of  incor¬ 
ruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for¬ 
ever.” — I  Peter  1:23. 

THE  new  birth  is  the  re-birth  of  the  soul. 

“  As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive.”  Marvel  of 
marvels  that  God  can  take  a  soul  which  is  dead  in 
trespasses  and  in  sins  and  by  the  infusion  of  His 
own  nature  so  reanimate  that  dead  soul  that  life 
will  spring  out  of  death,  and  the  bones  which  were 
broken  are  made  to  rejoice!  Thank  God,  there  is 
hope.  Though  your  soul  has  gone  down  to  the  sides 
of  the  awful  pit,  the  Eternal  One,  who  inhabiteth 
eternity,  can,  if  you  will  now  obey  the  call  to  re¬ 
pentance,  bring  you  back,  cancel  the  eternal  obliga¬ 
tion,  set  aside  the  just  sentence,  and  restore  your 
hopelessly  dead  soul,  infusing  life,  eternal  life,  and 
that  more  abundantly. 

The  first  birth  is  of  the  physical  man  and  is  with¬ 
out  our  knowledge  or  consent:  the  second  birth  is 
of  the  immortal  spirit,  and  comes  about  with  our 
knowledge  and  by  our  consent. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  “  Can  a  person  know 

the  time  he  is  born  again  ?  ”  a  certain  religious 

148 


THE  NEW  BIRTH 


149 


paper  replied,  reasoning  from  analogy,  that  since 
we  cannot  remember  the  time  of  our  first  birth, 
of  course,  we  cannot  of  the  second.  But  analogy, 
always  uncertain,  in  this  case  completely  fails,  for 
the  new  birth  is  accomplished  not  only  within  the 
realm  of  our  knowledge  and  by  our  consent,  but 
by  our  personal  invitation  and  earnest  solicitation. 
That  is,  we  so  desire  the  work  to  be  done  that  we 
become  a  partner  with  the  Almighty  in  its  accom¬ 
plishment.  We  are  personally  interested  in  the 
accomplishment  of  the  work,  and,  as  far  as  our 
ability  goes,  we  are  just  as  responsible  for  its  con¬ 
summation  as  the  other  party  to  the  agreement. 

Now  since  the  work  of  the  new  birth  is  accom¬ 
plished  by  the  combined  efforts  of  two  person¬ 
alities,  the  first,  the  Almighty  as  the  active, 
operative  agent,  and  the  second,  the  man,  as  the 
passive,  actively  receptive  agent,  may  we  ask,  How 
can  the  work  of  the  new  birth  be  fully  accom¬ 
plished  outside  of  the  full  consent  and  knowledge 
of  both  agents? 

This  brings  us  to  the  point  that  the  first  birth 
is  without  our  will,  but  the  second  birth  is  by  our 
will.  We  had  nothing  to  do  with  our  first  birth, 
either  in  consenting  or  in  ordering,  but  if  ever  we 
are  born  again  we  must  put  our  will  into  the  thing, 
and  one  of  the  last  decisions  the  struggling  soul 
makes  before  light  breakes  in  is,  “  I  will  be  Thine, 
0  Lord;  I  will  do  Thy  will;  I  will  be  saved.” 

In  such  a  case  God  has  not  only  the  obedient 


150  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


body  and  the  submissive  mind,  but  He  also  Has  the 
slavery  of  the  unbound  will.  Such  a  soul  goes  to 
the  door  and  demands  that  the  Lord  shall  bore  his 
ear,  not  as  a  symbol  of  galling  bondage,  but  of 
willing,  joyous,  submissive  servitude;  the  servi¬ 
tude  of  a  will  that  cannot  be  bound,  but  that 
desires  nothing  better  than  to  be  the  bondslave  of 
the  all-wise,  all-loving  Trinity.  Oh,  the  sweetness 
of  a  servitude  that  carries  with  it,  nay  is  impelled 
by  the  desire  to  do  the  will  of  its  Master! 

All  earth’s  bonds  are  galling,  and  its  servitudes 
are  bitter;  here  alone  is  liberty,  here  is  the  free¬ 
dom  of  the  glad  winged  angels  and  the  mighty 
archangels.  “  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  0  God.” 


XXIII 


VANITY  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  WHEN 
SEPARATED  FROM  GOD 

“For  all  flesh  is  as  grass,  and  all  the  glory  of  man  as  the 
flower  of  grass.  The  grass  withereth,  and  the  flower  thereof 
falleth  away” — I  Peter  1:24. 

WHEN  Peter  left  all  to  follow  Jesus, 
the  forsaking  was  just  as  difficult 
and  the  cross  just  as  heavy  as  though 
broad  acres  and  shining  treasures  were  left  behind. 
When  the  mantle  of  the  aged  Elijah  fell  on  the 
youthful  Elisha,  the  young  man  forsook  his  earthly 
prospects  along  with  his  plows,  “  farewelled  ”  his 
friends  and  kissed  his  parents,  and  left  his  self- 
seeking  life  for  service  for  others,  and  by  so  doing 
he  inscribed  his  name  in  God’s  hall  of  fame. 

In  like  manner  Peter  forsook  his  nets,  hid  good- 
by  to  the  old  haunts  so  endeared  by  the  association 
of  years,  threw  over  his  worldly  prospects  and 
followed  the  lowly,  despised  Nazarene,  but  in  so 
doing  he  wrote  his  name  high  among  the  great  men 
of  the  earth.  Yes,  he  brought  up  from  the  depths 
his  name  which  would  otherwise  have  gone  down 
in  forgetfulness  along  with  thousands  of  others 
who  have  preferred  their  nets  to  the  service  of  the 
Master. 


151 


152  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


Our  humble  fisherman  proved  that  all  the  glory 
of  man  is  a9  the  flower  of  the  grass,  and  received 
in  its  stead  the  glory  that  comes  from  God,  and 
heard  the  Master  of  ocean  and  earth  and  sky 
declare  “  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Barjona.” 

This  passage  reveals  the  vanity  of  human  life 
when  untouched  by  divinity: 

I.  Because  of  the  shortness  of  time. 

II.  Because  of  the  emptiness  of  human  glory. 

I.  The  shortness  of  time.  Time  is  but  a  tiny 
island  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  ocean  of  eternity. 
Compared  with  eternity  the  longest  life  is  but  a 
breath,  a  flower,  the  passing  of  a  shadow. 

When  the  writer  was  suffering  with  typhoid 
fever,  a  dear  friend  brought  a  beautiful  chrysan¬ 
themum  and  put  it  in  a  vase  at  his  bedside.  With 
nothing  else  to  do  the  patient  lay  hour  after  hour 
and  admired  the  glory  and  symmetry  of  its  snowy 
white  petals.  But  soon  with  a  feeling  of  sadness 
he  saw  it  begin  to  fade.  Brown  spots  appeared  on 
its  once  wax-like  petals,  decay  had  begun.  Taking 
the  flower  in  his  hand,  he  quoted  the  words  of 
Isaiah :  “  The  voice  said,  Cry,  And  he  said,  What 
shall  I  cry?  All  flesh  is  grass,  and  all  the  goodli¬ 
ness  thereof  as  the  flower  of  the  field:  The  grass 
withereth,  the  flower  fadeth:  because  the  spirit  of 
the  Lord  bloweth  upon  it:  surely  the  people  is 
grass.  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but 
the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand  forever.” 


[VANITY,  SEPARATED  FROM  GOD  153 


Did  you  ever  in  your  mind’s  eye  watch  the 
younger  generation  crowding  their  elders  off  the 
stage  of  action,  and  then  pressing  forward  them¬ 
selves  to  their  own  inevitable  end?  Our  fathers, 
where  are  they  ?  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  for¬ 
ever  ?  Generations,  ages,  centuries,  yea,  thou¬ 
sands  of  years,  have  been  told,  and  still  the  sad 
story  of  sickness,  pain,  death  and  sorrow  goes  on 
until  the  head  grows  sick  and  the  heart  faint. 

The  old  man,  tottering  on  the  verge  of  eternity, 
declares  that  the  events  of  his  boyhood  days  are  as 
vivid  as  though  they  transpired  but  yesterday. 
The  memories  of  the  old  swimming  hole,  the  beech 
woods,  the  hillside  pasture,  the  daisy  field,  the 
fishing  excursions,  the  skating  pond,  the  little  red 
schoolhouse,  his  playmates  and  youthful  sorrows, 
joys  and  loves  come  crowding  into  his  fireside  rev¬ 
eries  until  tears  of  genuine  loneliness  chase  each 
other  down  his  furrowed,  careworn  cheeks. 

I  sit  ’mid  the  scenes  of  my  childhood. 

The  scenes  which  fond  memory  loves; 

I  roam  by  its  brooks,  in  its  meadows, 

O’er  its  hillocks,  in  shadowy  groves. 

I  sit  once  again  by  the  mill  pond, 

I  watch  the  gay  squirrel  at  play, 

I  list  to  the  blythe  robin  warble 
By  her  nest  at  the  close  of  the  day. 


I  welcome  the  voice  of  my  mother, 

As  she  calls  from  the  dear  cottage  door; 
My  father,  my  brothers,  my  sisters, 

The  circle  is  welded  once  more. 

I  stroll  through  the  fields  now  deserted, 
Where  swift  boyhood’s  feet  used  to  tread; 


154  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


I  start  at  the  clang  of  the  school  bell, 

For  it  tolls  the  sad  dirge  of  the  dead. 

How  little  I  thought  then  how  transient 
The  scenes  of  my  childish  delights; 

It  seemed  they  would  last  on  forever, 

But  they  fled  like  the  stars  of  the  night. 

Thus  I  sit  ’mid  the  scenes  of  my  childhood, 

And  count  o’er  the  friends  of  the  past; 

I  cannot  but  think  life  is  fleeting 

Once  the  die  for  its  earth-stake  is  cast. 

I  think  of  the  voices  that  cheered  me, 

I  think  of  the  hearts  then  so  dear, 

As  memory  brings  them  before  me 
I  welcome  the  heart-easing  tear. 

ADd  I  ask  as  I  count  o’er  those  faces, — 

So  many  have  crossed  o’er  the  tide, — 

“  Shall  I  meet  them  again  in  the  home-land, 

Fore’er  on  the  glory-lit  side  ?  ” 

How  sad  such,  a  view  of  things  would  he  with  no 
forward-look!  An  old  man,  trembling  a  moment 
before  he  sinks  into  the  grave,  looking  into  the  jaws 
of  the  hungry  monster,  death,  helpless,  hopeless, 
joyless,  Christless  and  heavenless.  Oh,  the  sadness 
of  that  soul  whose  sun  is  setting  amid  the  clouds 
of  a  misspent  life,  never  again  to  arise  throughout 
the  countless  ages  of  eternity. 

But,  thank  God,  all  lives  do  not  end  thus.  The 
forward-look  of  the  aged  Christian’s  heart  causes 
his  wrinkled  face  to  glow  with  the  dawning  light 
of  hope  and  joyous  expectation.  His  earthly  sun 
goes  down  with  all  the  splendour  and  glory  of  the 
fairest  of  days.  Goes  down,  did  I  say?  Yes,  it 
sets  as  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  but  rises 
again  in  most  effulgent  splendour  in  that  land 


[VANITY,  SEPARATED  FROM  GOD  155 


which  needeth  not  the  light  of  the  sun  or  of  a 
candle,  for  the  Lord  God  giveth  him  light  and  his 
sun  shall  never  go  down. 

II.  The  emptiness  of  human  glory.  The  beauty 
of  the  flower  fades  even  before  the  grass  withers, 
in  like  manner  the  glory  of  man  often  fades  before 
his  body  decays. 

How  little  it  takes  to  turn  the  tide  of  human 
glory !  The  crowd  which  shouts  for  the  hero  to-day 
will  hiss  him  off  the  stage  to-morrow.  The  beauty 
which  is  so  admired  to-day  will  be  as  a  faded  leaf 
to-morrow.  The  wealth  of  to-day  will  burst  as  a 
bubble  and  be  gone  to-morrow.  “  What  is  your 
life?  It  is  even  a  vapour,  that  appeareth  for  a 
little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away.”  Take  a  look 
along  the  ages  and  generations  of  the  past.  The 
wicked  have  reigned  in  great  pomp  and  have 
spread  themselves  as  a  green  bay  tree,  they  have 
established  themselves  as  the  cedars  of  Lebanon 
and  have  thought  that  they  would  continue  as  the 
everlasting  hills ;  but  the  Lord  blew  upon  them  and 
they  were  not,  yea,  their  place  shall  know  them  no 
more  forever. 

Generations  crowd  swiftly  in  the  footsteps  of 
generations  gone  before.  The  old  man  dies  and  is 
buried,  and  his  son  crowds  rapidly  into  his  place 
and  this  man  in  turn  is  jostled  off  the  scene  by  his 
children  who  follow.  Oh  man,  mortal  min,  born 
but  for  one  brief  day!  Why,  oh,  why  should  you 
refuse  to  open  your  sin-blinded  eyes  and  behold 


156  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 


jour  end  ?  Why  should  you  refuse  to  see  that  the 
end  of  a  life  of  sin  is  sorrow  eternal  ?  Why  should 
you  refuse  to  see  that  the  end  of  a  life  of  godly 
consecration  is  everlasting  joy? 

As  angry  waves  beat  ’gainst  the  rock-bound  shore, 

And  foam  with  rage,  and  loudly  roar: 

So  terribly  doth  rushing  time  speed  on, 

It  passes  and  fore’er  is  gone. 

Swift  as  the  red-winged  lightnings  fly, 

And  flash  across  the  angry  sky; 

More  swiftly  time  doth  hurry  on  its  way. 

Yet  men  will  laugh  instead  of  pray. 

Eager  as  a  warhorse  to  the  fray, 

Where  hungry  waves  of  carnage  play; 

Undaunted  thus  doth  time  speed  in  its  flight, 

’Tis  day  a  while,  then  endless  night. 

Fiercer  than  the  cyclone’s  roaring  breath, 

Upon  whose  wings  is  borne  grim  death; 

More  fiercely  still  doth  time  speed  on  its  course. 

Life  now,  but  soon  the  shroud  and  hearse. 

Swifter  than  worlds  wheel  on  their  onward  march, 

Or  planets  sweep  the  spangled  arch; 

So  swift,  and  swifter,  doth  your  earth-life  speed, 

To  grasp  FOREVER  in  its  greed. 

Eternal  years  wheel  towards  you  in  their  flight. 

Be  quick,  escape  eternal  night; 

This  hour  you  live  and  seek  for  earthly  joys, 

This  next,  dread  death,  your  hope  destroys. 

If  the  sorrow  of  this  world,  both  past,  present 
and  to  come,  could  be  measured,  who  could  tell  the 
infinite  weight  of  woe,  of  anguish  of  heart,  of  bit¬ 
ter  remorse,  of  heart-breaking  grief,  the  rivers  of 
scalding  tears,  the  floods  of  crimson  gore  spilled  on 
countless  battle-fields,  the  burden  of  the  mother’s 
heart  bereaved  of  her  children,  or  of  the  wives  who 


VANITY,  SEPARATED  FROM  GOD  15T 


look  out  of  tlie  window  for  loved  ones  who  will 
never  return ;  who  can  estimate  the  heart-aches 
caused  by  the  demon  drink,  or  who  can  measure 
the  immeasurable  griefs  of  those  who  have  followed 
in  the  wake  of  the  all  but  infinite  funeral  trains  of 
earth’s  fallen?  Oh  God,  where  is  the  end?  Is 
there  no  hope  for  the  lost  sons  and  daughters  of 
Adam’s  fallen  race  ?  The  answer  comes,  “  It  is 
appointed  unto  man  once  to  die.”  But  thank  God 
for  the  Christian’s  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection 
to  immortality  and  eternal  life.  Who  would  refuse 
to  choose  the  eternity  of  the  blest? 


XXIV 


ENDURING  QUALITY  OF  THE  WORD 

OF  GOD 

“  But  the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  forever.  And  this  is 
word  which  by  the  Gospel  is  preached  unto  you” — I  Peter 
1:25. 

PETER  failed,  but  the  word  of  Christ  was 
fulfilled.  Thus  the  impetuous  Peter  was 
taught  the  fickleness  of  his  own  boasted 
strength,  as  well  as  the  enduring  quality  of  the 
word  of  God. 

Riches  increase  and  men  set  their  hearts  upon 
them,  but  the  evil  day  comes  and  their  wealth 
vanishes  like  a  shadow.  Kingdoms  rise  and  rule 
with  pomp  and  splendour,  but  their  day  of  power 
is  the  day  of  their  overthrow,  for  pride  cometh  be¬ 
fore  a  fall  and  a  haughty  spirit  before  destruction, 
and  this  is  as  true  of  nations  as  it  is  of  indi¬ 
viduals. 

But  amid  all  the  changing  things  God’s  word 
endures.  Skeptics,  critics,  fanatics  and  formalists 
have  assaulted  it  in  vain.  Like  the  impregnable 
rock  of  Gibraltar  it  stands;  more  than  this,  it  is 
founded  on  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  while  that 
eternal  Rock  endures  the  word  of  God  will  stand. 

The  word  of  God  changes  not.  The  same  pre¬ 
cious  passages  which  cheered  the  hearts  of  the  an- 

158 


QUALITY  OF  THE  WORD  OF  GOD  159 

cient  fathers,  comfort  us  to-day  amid  the  trials  of 
our  earthly  pilgrimage ;  and  the  passages  which 
come  to  us  with  such  sweetness  and  power  will  he 
sufficient  to  lift  up  the  head  of  the  last  man  in  all 
this  world  upon  whom  the  enemy  of  souls  shall  at¬ 
tempt  his  fiendish  wiles. 

Truth  is  always  the  same.  If  we  could  find  out 
the  underlying  principles  which  throb  in  the  hearts 
of  the  mightiest  of  God’s  angels,  we  would  know 
the  truths  which  by  the  grace  of  God  will  make 
us  free. 

God’s  eternity,  God’s  heaven,  God’s  angelic  hosts, 
God’s  saints,  are  all  moved  and  animated  by  this 
one  undying  unchanging  principle,  truth.  And 
Jesus  Christ,  the  earthly  revelation  of  the  God¬ 
head  declared,  “  I  am  the  truth.” 

The  enduring  word  which  is  mentioned  in  this 
passage  is  that  word  which  the  prophets  foretold 
should  be  preached.  “  How  beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  are  the  feet  of  Him  that  bringeth  good 
tidings,  that  publisheth  peace.” 

The  enduring  word  is  the  news  of  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  Christ.  “  And  He  turned  Him  unto  His 
disciples,  and  said  privately,  Blessed  are  the  eyes 
which  see  the  things  that  ye  see :  for  I  tell  you,  that 
many  prophets  and  kings  have  desired  to  see  those 
things  which  ye  see,  and  have  not  seen  them;  and 
to  hear  those  things  which  ye  hear,  and  have  not 
heard  them.” 

This  enduring  word  is  Christ  Himself.  “  In  the 


160  THE  FISHERMAN  OF  GALILEE 

beginning  was  the  Word,  and  tbe  Word  was  with 
God,  and  tbe  Word  was  God.  Tbe  same  was  in  tbe 
beginning  with  God.” 

Tbe  man  wbo  preaches  tbe  gospel  with  tbe  Holy 
Gbost  sent  down  from  heaven  makes  known: 

1.  Tbe  will  of  God  as  revealed  by  tbe  prophets. 
“  Tbe  scriptures  of  tbe  prophets  ”  are  a  never- 
failing  storehouse  of  good  things  out  of  which  tbe 
wise  scribe  brings  forth  things  new  and  old. 

2.  He  makes  known  tbe  will  of  God  as  revealed 
by  tbe  apostles.  These  ambassadors  of  beaven 
were  commissioned  and  sent  forth  by  tbe  Lord  to 
make  His  will  known  to  tbe  world,  and  tbe  minis¬ 
ter  of  tbe  new  covenant  repeats  this  message  in  no 
uncertain  manner. 

3.  Tbe  true  minister  of  tbe  gospel  makes  known 
Christ  Himself.  Tbe  burden  of  tbe  preaching  of 
Paul  was  an  attempt  to  reveal  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified,  and  tbe  herald  of  the  cross,  along 
with  J obn  Baptist,  cries,  “  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God,  that  taketb  away  tbe  sins  of  tbe  world.” 

Oh,  that  tbe  word  of  God  may  dwell  in  my  heart 
richly,  that  I  may  be  given  wisdom  to  speak  a  word 
in  season  to  him  that  is  weary !  Ob  that  God  would 
give  tbe  power  to  proclaim  to  all  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ,  and  fill  up  tbe  measure  of  God’s 
will  concerning  our  duty,  that  we  may  rejoice  with 
Him  forever,  world  without  end.  Amen. 


Printed  in  United  States  of  America 


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The  fisherman  of  Galilee;  a  devolional 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00013  4371 


